"An adventure of a lifetime, very uncommon"-Stefanos Tsitsipas relieved after holding off Alexander Zverev's spirited fightback in Monte-Carlo 3R
Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas described the effort he made to hold off a spirited fightback by Germany's Alexander Zverev at the Monte-Carlo Masters as uncommon and an adventure of a lifetime. The Greek was up by a set and held match points to close his third round encounter with Zverev at 6-0 in the second set.
But the German won five straight games in a row to take the second set to a tiebreak. Stefanos Tsitsipas eventually prevailed in the tiebreak to win the match 7-5, 7-6(3).
"I would call it an adventure of a lifetime. So definitely not something I am faced with every single day. Momentum shifted dramatically at some point you know it went one way and then it went completely the other way again," Tsitsipas said in the on-court interview after the match.
Stefanos Tsitsipas said that it was quite uncommon and that he was trying to understand how it actually unfolded.
"So, it was very uncommon. I don't even know. I am trying to figure out right now what just happened," the Greek said.
Tsitsipas said things improved much better in the tiebreak, especially after he managed to win a mini-break. The Greek said this gave him confidence that he would be able to win the match.
"Five-love (5-0) in the second set, however, you know things looked pretty good on the tiebreaker especially when I managed to get that mini-break. I felt pretty confident (that) I am very close to clinch this and walk away with something good," Tsitsipas said.
The Greek won seven games in a row after the first set was tied at 5-5. He was also dominant on his serve winning 81% of his first serve points against Alexander Zverev. In fact, the German was able to convert only two of the 10 break point chances he had in the match.
Stefanos Tsitsipas to play Karen Khachanov next at Monte-Carlo Masters
Stefanos Tsitsipas will play Karen Khachanov of Russia in the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters. The duo have a long rivalry dating back to 2017 having played against each other eight times so far.
Tsitsipas has been dominant against the Russian, having won seven out of eight matches. The Greek beat Khachanov in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters in November last year.
The Russian's only victory against Tsitsipas came at the Miami Open last year. The pair have met only once on clay. Tsitsipas beat Khachanov in three sets at the Rome Open in May 2022.