Tsitsipas wins second consecutive Monte-Carlo title by beating Davidovich Fokina

Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters | Draw | Order of play

There was no denying Stefanos Tsitsipas from a successful title defense at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Not even a 4-0 third-set deficit in the quarter-finals against Diego Schwartzman could stop him, so once the Greek survived that scare there was no looking back. Tsitsipas trounced Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2 in the semis and then triumphed in Sunday’s final with another straight-set victory — 6-3, 7-6(3) over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The world No. 5 prevailed after one hour and 36 minutes.

Tsitsipas struggles to reach the finish line

Tsitsipas had a chance to finish off his underdog opponent with less drama, but Monte-Carlo’s No. 3 seed twice gave back a break in the second set. He dropped serve at 2-1 and did so again while serving for the championship at 5-4. However, the 23-year-old steadied himself in the tiebreaker. He reeled off four points in a row at one stage to seize a 5-1 advantage, and from there Davidovich Fokina could not recover.

“It’s double more special in a lot of ways.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas

With capacity limited last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was not much of an atmosphere when Tsitsipas beat Andrey Rublev in the final.

This one was different. A packed crowd was enthralled by Tsitsipas’ tennis from start to finish in 2022 — complete with one of the shots of the year against Schwartzman. He treated the fans to another standout performance on Sunday.

“It’s a great feeling,” he assured, “because we had the crowd this year involved. It was a bit more lively than last year. I think it’s double more special in a lot of ways, starting from of course much more nerve-racking — to have people involved, you have the fans yelling and chanting. But it was a great way to top it off with lots of fighting in the end. (I was) not so much going for clean winners or for too much beautiful tennis, but trying to put in the hard work in every single point and go over the limits.”

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