Jannik Sinner’s winning machine may have hit a significant failure in Monte Carlo, as his hope of a first appearance in the final of the ATP 1000 came to an alarming end as he was beaten by an inspired Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek star has endured a challenging start to 2024 and it appeared Sinner was going to add him to his list of victims as he closed in on a first final in Monte Carlo.
Tsitsipas now has an impressive 6-3 winning record against Sinner and he pulled off this win after coming back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to wrap up a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.
“It was tennis at its highest level that I have been able to play. Jannik was an extremely difficult opponent and it can be seen throughout the year so far. He has been very consistent and I could see that throughout today with his game,” said Tsitsipas.
“He is one of the toughest opponents I have faced so far and to find ways when there weren’t that many, I am proud of that. He gave me a very difficult game and the way I overcame it and the way I managed those situations showed true excellence.
“It helps my confidence that I have a win like this under my belt. Getting to those levels of tennis again brings a lot of satisfaction to me.
“When you are putting in the work every day, these are the kind of matches that you want to deliver on. Now I just have to rest and try and be ready for the final.”
Tsitsipas has waited a long time for a win of this magnitude, but the big question has to be what toll this match has taken on Sinner.
The tennis world was waiting to see a clay court showdown between the form player of 2024 and world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo final.
Yet it was clear that Sinner did some damage to his knee during the third set of this match, as he received treatment for the injury from an ATP physio at a moment when he lost momentum in the match.
Sinner’s only other defeat this year came against Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells, when he was again complaining of elbow and leg issues.
He bounced back from that defeat to win the Miami Open title in sparkling fashion, but a knee problem will be more concerning to Sinner as he heads into the most hectic phase of the tennis season.
Sinner getting into a position to challenge Djokovic for the world No 1 ranking during the clay court season, as he had limited points to defend from 2023 compared to Djokovic.
Yet he will now need to evaluate whether his body is ready to play two more ATP 1000 events in Madrid and in his Italian homeland in Rome before the French Open gets underway in late May.
As for Tsitsipas, his stellar week of success in Monte Carlo means he will be back in the top ten of the ATP rankings when they are updated on Monday.