Tsitsipas’ Monte-Carlo surge continues with Khachanov QF win

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ resurgence continues apace at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The World No. 12 on Friday eased to a 6-4, 6-2 triumph against Karen Khachanov to reach the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Tsitsipas stayed rock-solid in the face of some aggressive early hitting from Khachanov before accelerating to an 83-minute triumph against an opponent just five places below him in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Having arrived in the Principality with a modest 11-6 record for 2024, Tsitsipas appears to have been galvanised by returning to an event where he lifted back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The 25-year-old Greek will now chase his third championship-match appearance in Monte-Carlo when he takes on Jannik Sinner, a 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 winner against Holger Rune, in the last four.

“I would lie if I said it doesn’t bring good memories stepping out on this court,” said Tsitsipas after backing up his third-round win against World No 5 Alexander Zverev in style by beating Khachanov. “It’s something that I attribute some of my performances here over time to.

“I come back here, and I sort of relive those memories of the past. It gives good feelings to me when I’m able to play in front of crowds like this and be able to try and strive for excellence with my game.”

Tsitsipas broke Khachanov’s serve in the opening game of the match and, despite then dropping serve himself in the next game, he ultimately delivered a strong serving performance to hinder Khachanov’s attempts to dictate on return. The Greek won 84 per cent (27/32) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to increasing his Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Khachanov to 8-1.

Khachanov called the physio to work on his leg at 2-2 in the second set but continued to move freely until the end of the match. He was visibly frustrated after sending an easy overhead wide to gift Tsitsipas a break for 3-2, however, and he was unable to conjure a break point in the second set on his maiden Monte-Carlo quarter-final appearance.

“My returns were effective. I was generating a lot of pace and gained good momentum at some point,” said Tsitsipas. “He seemed good and well composed in his tennis. He wasn’t giving away too many unforced errors and seemed pretty calm from behind the baseline. I tried to do my part, which was to press as much as I could and not rush myself into the rallies.

“I was trying to predict and read certain things on the court and it worked out pretty well. I took my time once again to understand what works and what doesn’t and today I was persistent in my efforts to walk away with something good.”

Moving well on the clay 🧱

Excellent defending from @steftsitsipas today👏#StealScore calculates how often a player has won the point when they are in defence during the point#TennisInsights | @atptour | @ROLEXMCMASTERS pic.twitter.com/j0qQnif6Jz

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) April 12, 2024