After beating Andrey Rublev to come out victorious from the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday afternoon, Stefanos Tsitsipas has proved that he should no longer be considered as the next big thing, but rather one of the best tennis players of the moment.
The Greek didn’t drop a single set in Monte Carlo and clinched his first ever ATP Masters 1000 title at the age of 22.
“I knew that he was going to be a very difficult opponent to face,” Tsitsipas said after his victory.
“There were a lot of nerves coming into that match. [We] always want to bring the best out of [ourselves] when facing each other.
“Playing Andrey was a very difficult thing to do today, also considering that it was a final. There is extra stress and extra importance in the match that we had to play.
“I am definitely proud of the way I managed to behave and be out on the court today.”
Tsitsipas’s journey so far
After being beaten in the Qatar Open quarter-finals back in 2018 by Dominic Thiem and the Barcelona Open final that year by Rafael Nadal, Tsitsipas won his first career grand slam game at the French Open.
Tsitsipas became the first ever Greek tennis player to win an ATP Tour event after he came our victorious from the Stockholm Open in 2018, when he was named ATP’s Most Improved Player of the year.
But it was not until the 2019 Australian Open when he stole the spotlight by eliminating Roger Federer and reaching the semi-finals of the competition, where he was defeated by Nadal.
His first victory over the Spaniard came with revenge in the Madrid Open, where he was defeated in the final by world number one Novak Djokovic.
This year, he became the second player to ever beat Nadal in a grand slam from two sets down with his win in the Australian Open quarter-finals, but finally succumbed to Daniil Medvedev in the next round.
Rublev beat Tsitsipas in the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open, but the Greek took his revenge in Monte Carlo, where he stood out once more.
His work ethic and natural talent have led him to his highest ever ranking, currently being the world’s number five behind Thiem, Nadal, Medvedev and Djokovic.
Meanwhile, many consider him the future world number one, but it looks as through his moment may have already come, as Tsitsipas seems ready to reach the pinnacle of tennis.
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