Djokovic remains without a final appearance this year. Will Tsitsipas make history in Monte Carlo?

He doesn’t like this year so far. Novak Djokovic didn’t even reach the final in Monte Carlo and is still waiting for a more significant performance. Greece’s Tsitsipas, on the other hand, will play for the Masters title. Will he join the elite club of three-time champions from this event?

Semi-final duels

Saturday’s semi-finals brought some rather surprising results in Monte Carlo. Italian Sinner, this season’s sovereign, was no match for Greek Tsitsipas.

The Greek tennis player won in three sets and confirms that he is good on clay in Monte Carlo. In the final, he will face Noro Ruud.

Ruud knocked out Novak Djokovic in the second semi-final. He did so in a match that he himself described before it began as a David versus Goliath match. The Serb added another lacklustre result by his standards.

The Norwegian tennis player celebrated his first victory over Djokovic. The key was a 6-4 win in the first and third sets. In both sets, Ruud lost his serve once, while he himself won two Serbian points.

For the whole match, the 25-year-old Norwegian recorded only thirteen unforced errors. He proves that clay is his favourite surface.

But in the final he will be up against a highly motivated opponent. Tsitsipas has the opportunity to make a significant mark in Monte Carlo history.

Tsitsipas and his chances

The Greek tennis player will play his third final in Monte Carlo. He has been successful in both previous ones. In 2021, he beat the Russian Rublev. A year later, he beat Spain’s Fokina.

Against Ruud, he will fight to win his third title, which would put him among the legends of this tournament. Apart from the phenomenal Nadal, who has rejoiced eleven times here, only two other tennis players have won a hat-trick.

More than forty years ago, the Romanian Nastase and the Swede Borg won three times in Monte Carlo. Later, the Austrian Muster. Tennis players like Ivan Lendl, Gustavo Kuerten, Juan Carlos Ferrero and (so far) Djokovic have tried in vain to achieve this feat.

Now Tsitsipas will attempt it. In a season that has so far been marked by Jannik Sinner, attention is turning to other names. Certainly a nice diversification.

Source: ATP, Eurosport