By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, April 18, 2021
Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 to capture the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title and make history as the first Greek to win a Masters 1000.
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
Striking declarative drives with force of a man slamming shut a door against a strong wind, Stefanos Tsitsipas realized a masterful Monte-Carlo breakthrough.
A stylish Tsitsipas rode his gusty forehand and smooth all-court acumen to his maiden Masters 1000 title overwhelming Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 in today's Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final.
Tsitsipas: Time is Now
When Rublev's final shot sprayed wide, Tsitsipas dropped to his knees and raised his arms in joy capturing his sixth career title and making history as the first Greek man to claim a Masters 1000 championship.
That was about the only time the world No. 5 looked down all week.
In a commanding week of championship tennis, Tsitsipas did not drop a set and permitted just 28 games in five tournament wins en route to his first title of the season.
"It was all about fighting in the end. The last point was just trying to play as deep as possible, press if the ball comes short," Tsitsipas said. "I was doing exactly what I had to. The intentions were right. That gave me the last shot, which landed out. I think the rest, I just can't describe it."
This second career clay-court title sparked several flashbacks and an eruption of emotion in Tsitsipas.
"It was unbelievable. So many things went through my head," Tsitsipas said. "So many memories came back from when I was a child. It's incredible. I like expressing myself and showing emotion.
"I've seen players not react to their wins like this. It makes me feel good about myself."
I need that. Prince Albert II of Monaco and a limited number of tournament staffers were on hand to see Tsitsipas' rise to Masters royalty capping a wild week tha saw world No. 1 Novak Djokovic bow to Dan Evans and second-ranked Daniil Medvedev fail to post after testing positive for Coronavirus on Tuesday.
It's the second-biggest title of Tsitsipas' career—after his triumphant run to the 2019 ATP Finals championship in London—and completes a memorable Monte-Carlo family journey. Forty years ago, Tsitsipas' mother, former WTA pro Julia Salnikova, won a junior title at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and was on hand today, along with the entire family, watching Stefanos streak into history.
The mother and child championship reunion was the most satisfying aspect of Tsitsipas' maiden major.
"This is incredible," Tsitsipas said. "I think first time I walked in that club, in the Monte Carlo Country Cub, with my mom, I think that was when I was six years old. She showed me that name up there. I remember seeing it for the first time. I was, like, stunned. I was like, Wow, that is really cool. How cool is that?
"I actually started thinking about it. I didn't think about it in the beginning of the tournament, but it came to my mind when I was playing the semifinals. I was thinking that would be really cool to be in this together, like mother like son. That's where the whole purpose came from. I feel like there was an enormous amount of willingness to want to do more in order to be there with my mom."
The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas commanded the clay defusing one of the game's most explosive hitters by beating ex-boxer Rublev to the punch. Early breaks empowered Tsitsipas to swing freely. He won 24 of 28 first-serve points and did not face a break point in a one hour, 11-minute victory.
On the surface, this seventh encounter between former junior rivals pitted Tsitsipas' all-court skills vs. Rublev's jolting baseline attack. In reality, Tsitsipas didn't need to employ his entire attack yet still showed more gears to his game than the Russian hitting 18 winners compared to 10 for his opponent.
Avenging his 7-5-in-the-third-set loss to Rublev in the Hamburg final last fall, Tsitsipas beat his former junior rival for the fourth time in seven meetings giving us a glimpse of what may well be future finals in Masters events across different surfaces.
In a tremendous week that saw him battle past his tennis hero, 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, in a rousing Friday night quarterfinal upset, Rublev couldn't match Tsitsipas' intensity or control at the outset, fell behind an early break in both sets and couldn't close the gap against the Greek.
Still, Rublev, who owns an ATP-best 24 wins in 2021, rises to No. 7 in the live rankings following a physical trip to the final that saw him defeat two of the game's fittest players in Roberto Bautista Agut and Nadal before coming up depleted vs. his former junior rival.
"If is just about today, he was just better than me," Rublev said. "If we talk deeply, of course, I mean, I feel tired after all the matches that I play, exhausted.
"But this is not excuse. He was just better than me, and that's it."
The Greek all-courter had held in 31 of 34 service games en route to the final and imposed his first serve on the opening set. Tsitsipas won the toss, elected to serve and worked through a deuce hold to open.
The Rublev forehand is a massive weapon on all surfaces, but showing early nerves he dragged a down the line forehand well wide to face break point. Tsitsipas stepped up and whipped a one-handed backhand inside the line, wrong-footing the Russian to earn the opening break.
A focused Tsitsipas backed up the break at 15 for 3-0 then went up love-30 in the next game. Rublev righted his game, found his first serve and won four points in a row to get on the scoreboard.
The man who defeated Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem en route to the 2019 ATP Finals championship worked his wide serve sharply to set up first-strike forehands. Tsitsipas rolled through 12 of 14 points on serve stretching his lead to 5-2.
Snapping his serve with menacing intent, the 6'4" Tsitsipas banged the body serve to cap his second love hold and wrap the 32-minute opening set.
A declarative delivery—the lanky Greek served 65 percent and won 15 of 17 first-serve points—earning the opening break that empowered him to swing freely and the fact Tsitsipas imparts more spin on all of his shots which enabled him to explore the corners were essential elements in the opening set.
Exhorted by coach Fernando Vicente, Rublev was pumping himself up between points trying to elevate his energy levels. Most importantly, the Russian, who served just 46 percent in the opening set, landed six of eight first serves in a tough hold to start the second set.
A crackling serve, superior variety and his all-court acumen are all Tsitsipas assets. Rublev is at his best hovering around the baseline, taking the ball on the rise and playing grip and rip aggressive baseline tennis. The Russian's transition game is a work in progress and it showed as he missed a pair of smashes.
Tsitsipas dabbed a drop shot then thumped a drive down the line to earn the second break point of the match. A rattled Rublev overhit a backhand to relinquish the break and a 2-1 second-set lead to the Greek.
A spitting shower created heavier, slower conditions midway through the second set raising Rublev's degree of difficulty. Could he hit his way through Tsitsipas and detonate his explosive power to disruptive effective as he'd done upsetting 11-time champion Rafael Nadal in Friday's quarterfinals?
The Russian regained his range rocketing a forehand down the line to hold for 3-4.
Seventy minutes into the match, Rublev's front-court issues reared up as he missed a forehand volley.
One final crosscourt exchange ended with Tsitsipas drawing a final error then dropping to his knees and erupting in a celebratory scream before arising to embrace his family.
"I stepped up my game, brought this good game, good tennis," Tsitsipas said. "I didn't see no reason for me to leave from here without the trophy. I felt like I deserved it. I've put so much effort and so much concentration into it. Definitely something that I deserve.
"More opportunities like this is going to show up and come up in the future, so I need to be ready to show my consistency and prevail with that."