Greek tennis sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas defended his title and won his second consecutive Monte Carlo Masters 1000 cup on Sunday, competing against Spanish player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
A day after comfortably defeating Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, Tsitsipas prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the final, dashing the hopes of first-time ATP finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The 23-year-old, who defeated Andrey Rublev in the championship match in Monte Carlo last season, will climb to No. 2 in the ATP Race To Turin on Monday.
The Greek has now won eight tour-level trophies, with four coming on clay.
STEF AT THE DOUBLE 🏆🏆
The moment @steftsitsipas went BACK-TO-BACK in Monte-Carlo!#RolexMCMasters pic.twitter.com/Nux2meJBj8
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 17, 2022
Tsitsipas proud of his second Monte Carlo trophy
“I am very proud of myself,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview.
“Things weren’t going well at one point, but I managed to stay composed to finish the match off. I am really proud with the belief I put in my game. Sometimes you doubt yourself, but it is always important to keep your head high”.
The Greek, who was appearing in his fourth final at this level, struck his forehands with fierce topspin and accuracy and recovered from failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set to capture his first trophy of the season.
“He fought in moments I didn’t expect him to fight,” Tsitsipas said of his opponent.
“He can hit incredible winners out of nowhere and play unpredictably. But I was able to minimize that. I knew he would be a dangerous opponent but that is a great win for me. I think we will see great results from him in the future.”
Tsitsipas’s rare achievement at Monte Carlo
The 23-year-old Greek’s win makes him the sixth player to win back-to-back Monte Carlo titles in the Open Era after Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Muster, Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase.
In a standout week, the third seed produced consistent and aggressive tennis to capture his first title since he triumphed in Lyon last May.
Tsitsipas overcame 2019 titlist Fabio Fognini, Laslo Djere and second seed Alexander Zverev in straight sets, but survived a major scare in the quarter-finals against Diego Schwartzman, rallying from 0-4 in the third set to advance.
An exciting series of wins and records
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the highest-ranked Greek player in history.
He won his first match on the ATP Tour in late 2017 and quickly ascended the ATP rankings the following year.
The Greek player reached three tour-level finals in 2018 to win his first title at the Stockholm Open. With his runner-up finish at the Canadian Open, he became the youngest player to defeat four top ten opponents in a single tournament.
He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in August 2021.
As the 2019 ATP Finals champion, he became the youngest winner of the year-end championships in eighteen years.
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