Stefanos Tsitsipas, fifth in the world, won the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo for the second consecutive year on Sunday, April 17, beating Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (46and) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3). After a few games in which he took a while to get going, Tsitsipas found the right fuel: from 3-3 in the first set, he lined up five consecutive games to complete the first set and break away 2- 0 in the second. Taking advantage of countless unforced errors from Davidovich, obviously out of energy, Tsitsipas seemed on track to lift the trophy quickly and without shaking.
The Greek had managed the break to lead 5-4 and serve to win the match. But, lost for lost, the Spaniard with mismatched socks dropped all his shots and equalized at 5-5. The tie-break was dominated by Tsitsipas and, as a symbol, the two men found themselves on the ground while the match point was still rolling on the court: Davidovich because he had just made his last dive of the tournament, and Tsitsipas because the ball had just bounced out of bounds and it was sacred.
One of the favorites at Roland Garros
Unfortunate finalist at Roland-Garros in 2021 after leading two sets to nil against Novak Djokovic, the Greek thus becomes at 23 the sixth player to retain his title in the first major clay-court tournament of the season, alongside Ilie Nastase (1971-1973), Björn Borg (1979-1980), Thomas Muster (1995-1996), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2002-2003) and Rafael Nadal (2005-2012 and 2016-2018).
Tsitsipas asserts himself above all as one of the big favorites of the Grand Slam on ocher disputed at Porte d’Auteuil, from May 22 to June 5.
