Tsitsipas downs Zverev to reach another Monte Carlo final
Tsitsipas, who has now won all three of his claycourt matches against Zverev, will take on surprise finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Sunday's final.
Published : Apr 17, 2022 08:15 IST
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas showed no signs of fatigue following Friday's marathon battle as he eased past German Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final on Saturday.
Tsitsipas and Zverev had both survived three-hour tussles on Friday to reach the last four but it was the Greek third seed who appeared to have made a quick recovery as he tormented a lethargic Zverev with a barrage of baseline winners.
Tsitsipas, who has now won all three of his claycourt matches against Zverev, will take on surprise finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Sunday's showdown.
The Spaniard, who will contest his first singles final on the ATP tour, beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-7(2) 6-3 in a see-saw clash earlier on Saturday.
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All eyes, however, were on the Tsitsipas v Zverev clash.
Tsitsipas, last year's French Open runner-up, was twice up a break in the opening set but allowed Zverev to steal his serve back in the third and ninth games.
The Greek eventually sealed the set on the German's serve with a perfect slice. Tsitsipas dominated the second set from the baseline and grabbed a decisive break to move 4-2 up when Zverev's forehand sailed long.
He won the following game to love before breaking again with a blistering passing shot to wrap up the match in just 75 minutes.
"It was good," said Tsitsipas.
"I don't know whether the long match gave me some rhythm, but I was able to play good tennis today. I'm happy with the level I was able to execute and come up with some good ideas on the court."