Tsitsipas Slugs His Way Past Ruud For Holy Trinity Of Monte Carlo Masters Titles

While Rafael Nadal‘s reign has all but ended in Monte Carlo, Stefanos Tsitsipas‘s is well underway. Today, the Greek collected his third Monte Carlo Masters title in four years sweeping past Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4.

“I did need a week like this a lot, especially the rough months that I have been through the last half of 2023 until now,” Tsitsipas said after his first title since Los Cabos last August.

“It hasn’t been the best of times in terms of where I wanted to be, so getting back here and winning the title is something that I was definitely not aiming for and it came naturally.

“Winning this tournament three times is something I would have never imagined. Even when I first got it the first time, I obviously thought it was a great feeling and that place is special towards me. But getting the Holy Trinity, as I call it, is something that I will fully cherish it and take the most out of this moment.”

Tsitsipas dropped the first game of the match then rolled winning six straight to take the set. And while Ruud made things interesting in the second, Tsitsipas broke to take the title.

“I wouldn’t say that it was an easy match today,” Tsitsipas said. “The first set might have shown that it was easy, but in my mind, I knew that there was a battle there. Perhaps when the set finished, I was, like, okay, the score is different to what I feel on court. It was 6-1, which is a good set for me, but at the same time, I knew that this opponent is not going to play any worse than he did in the first set, or it’s not easy as well to maintain my level at that level that I maintained it in the first set, so I have to be careful, I have to be going through the motions and the tactical changes that my opponent might impose.”

Tsitsipas has now won 17 of his last 18 matches at the event, which is far and away his most best on tour — he now has more Monte Carlo title than Novak Djokovic!

Ruud falls to 0-2 in Masters event finals and 1-3 against Tsitsipas. He finished 0-for-8 on break chances in the match.

“It was not the best start unfortunately. Obviously I was broken early. I had a few chances to break back. I didn’t get it. Was always kind of playing defensively, coming on the back foot, coming from behind,” Ruud said.

“Didn’t really get the game going unfortunately. Stef played well. He played aggressive, fantastic with the forehand, and playing also really well with the backhand today I think. So I didn’t really find any holes in his game. Yeah, I didn’t play good enough. Simple as that.

“I think there were a few maybe small chances in the second where I had again some break chances, breakpoints, but when you don’t convert, it’s tough to win the matches.”

Tsitsipas captures his 11th career title in his 28th career final. It’s Tsitsipas’s first title since Los Cabos (d De Minaur).