World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas was extremely glad with the level of tennis he delivered against world No. 3 Alexander Zverev during their Monte Carlo Masters semifinal.Â
Tsitsipas, seeded at No. 3, handed Zverev a 6-4 6-2 loss to advance to back-to-back Monte Carlo finals.Â
Tsitsipas claimed the first break of the match in the second game but got broken back in the third game.Â
Tsitsipas broke Zverev again in the sixth game but failed to serve out for the first set in the ninth game.Â
Failing to serve out for the first set didn’t impact Tsitsipas as he earned his third break of the set in the 10th game when Zverev was serving to stay in the set.Â
The two players were tied at two games apiece in the second set, before Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back breaks and won four games in a row to complete a straight-set win.Â
“It was good,” said Tsitsipas in his on-court interview. “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.”
Tsitsipas plays Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the finalÂ
Last year, Tsitsipas won his maiden Masters title after beating Andrey Rublev in the final.Â
Tsitsipas now has a favorable final matchup as he plays Davidovich Fokina.Â
Davidovich Fokina, who has been through to his first Masters final, beat Novak Djokovic earlier this week.
“It’s going to take a little bit more,” said Tsitsipas. “He’s on a good run, in a good rhythm. I’ve played him before, he’s a good opponent, I’ve had big battles against him and I’m going to try and be as ready as possible.
“I know he’s improved from before and I’m going to have that in the back of my head, to produce the best tennis that I can.”