Stefanos Tsitsipas got through to the quarter finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for the first time in his career with a 6-3 6-4 win over Chile’s Christian Garin in the third round after 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Tsitsipas hit 17 forehand winners and won 75% of his net points to improve his seasonal win-loss record to 19-5.
The Greek player has reached the quarter finals or better at all three clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He achieved his best result on clay in 2019, when he reached the final at the Madrid Mutua Open.
Tsitsipas earned his only break of the first set in a 15-minute seventh game on his second chance after seven deuces to take a 4-3 lead. Tsitsipas forced backhand errors from Garin to get an early break in the first game of the second set. After a trade of breaks in the eighth and ninth games Tsitsipas converted his first match point with a overhead at the net.
Garin beat Felix Auger Aliassime and John Millman in straight sets to advance to the third round in Monte-Carlo on his tournament debut.
“It was a really difficult task to complete. Cristian played good tennis and gave me a hard time on the court. I stayed composed throughout the match. Things seemed not to be going my way towards the end of the second set, but I stepped back and left my mark. Things worked out well. I was fighting and I was putting my best performance out there. I was creating a lot of opportunities with my forehand and I think my serve paid off pretty well”, said Tsitsipas.
Earlier this year Tsitsipas reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and finished runner-up to Alexander Zverev in Acapulco. The Athens-native player wasted a set and a break against Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter finals in Miami before losing in three sets. Earlier this week he beat this year’s Australian Open semifinalist and Dubai champion Aslan Karatsev.
Tsitsipas set up a quarter final match against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat France’s Lucas Pouille 6-2 7-6 (7-2).
Davidovich Fokina got two consecutive breaks in the fifth and seventh games to claim the first set 6-2. The Spaniard went up a set and a break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Pouille converted his second break-back point in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Davidovich Fokina saved three break points to hold serve after four deuces for 4-4. Pouille fended off a total of five break points in the ninth and eleventh games. Davidovich Fokina saved two break points in the 12th games before winning the tie-break 7-2.
It will be their first head-to-head match. The young Spanish player scored the biggest win of his career against world number 10 Matteo Berrettini earlier this week before beating Alex De Minaur and Lucas Pouille to reach his maiden Masters 1000 quarter finals.
