Stefanos Tsitsipas stuns Jannik Sinner at Monte-Carlo Masters

Stefanos Tsitsipas kept fighting even when he seemed on the verge of falling too far off Jannik Sinner's pace. After taking the first set, Tsitsipas lost the second set 3-6 and could have been down 4-1 with Sinner serving except for an atrocious bad line call. This has plagued the Monte-Carlo Masters all week.

Still, there was no guarantee that Sinner would have hung on to defeat the Greek. Sinner had several games he had to win after being down 15-40 on his serve. Rarely was any game easy for either player. A near-love game almost seemed as if it would have been cheating.

Sinner did suffer some kind of leg injury as well in the third set which reduced his ability to move around as well. During points, he did what he could but he had to seek physio assistance twice, and in between points was clearly gimpy. This was not the reason that Tsitsipas won, however.

Stefanos Tsitsipas takes out Jannik Sinner at the Monte-Carlo Masters

The Greek is a very good clay-court player and his one-hand backhand was often bombastic. The pace of his shots kept Sinner off-balance and Tsitsipas played a smart game with playing with less pace when needed. Tsitsipas also played with an immense amount of composure. There were several high-stress points during the match but the Greek never let his emotions overcome him and affect the next point.

Sinner's loss was only his second in 2024. Tsitsipas's win will push him back into the top 10 of the ATP rankings. Except for a back injury that affected his form the last few months, Tsitsipas is deserving of consistently being ranked in the top 10. He is clearly one of the better players on the ATP tour, especially on clay.

Tsitsipas has had such a solid run in Monte-Carlo that he could easily be favored to win the final. He will have as much pace as either Novak Djokovic or Casper Ruud and Tsitsipas is a more natural clay court player than Djokovic. The Sunday final will certainly be must-watch viewing for tennis fans.

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