Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Defends Monte Carlo Title

With this victory, Stefanos Tsitsipas joined Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Muster, Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase to become the sixth player to win back to back Monte Carlo Open titles. Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Andrey Rublev in the last season to win his first Monte Carlo title. 

According to the balance of power, Stefanos Tsitsipas was on the offensive 23% of the time during the tournament compared to the 17% average for his opponents.

The match had a quick start, with Davidovich Fokina showing little sign of nervousness. He quickly found his range to get an early break. Stefanos Tsitsipas soon fought back with greater depth to tie the score 2-2. Davidovich Fokina lost four of the next five games as he was overpowered by Tsitsipas’s heavy game. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas tried to gain more control in the second set, but, Davidovich Fokina played with more width pushing the score 4-4. The Greek star broke again and eventually won the set 7-6, winning the tournament.

The Greek tennis star played consistent and aggressive tennis to win his first title of the year. He defeated 2019 title winner Fabio Fognini, Laslo Djere and Alexander Zverev in straight sets. The 23-year-old has now won eight tour-level titles.

In an on-court interview, Stefanos Tsitsipas said, “Things weren’t going well at one point, but I managed to stay composed to finish the match off. I am really proud of the belief I put in my game. Sometimes you doubt yourself, but it is always important to keep your head high."

“He fought in moments I didn’t expect him to fight. He can hit incredible winners out of nowhere and play unpredictably. But I was able to minimize that. I knew he would be a dangerous opponent but that is a great win for me. I think we will see great results from him in the future.”