Stefanos Tsitsipas is up there alongside Nadal, Djokovic and Alcaraz as a French Open favorite following Monte-Carlo triumph: Greg Rusedski
Greg Rusedski believes Stefanos Tsitsipas' victory at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters gives him a good chance of having another strong run at the French Open. The former World No. 4 thinks the Greek is one of four favorites for the Roland Garros title, along with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
The 23-year-old defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament on Sunday to successfully defend the title he won in Monaco last year.
The triumph marked the World No. 5's eighth ATP title and second at the Masters 1000 level. It is his first title since beating Cameron Norrie to win the Lyon Open in May last year. The Greek later went on to lose the Roland Garros final to Novak Djokovic in five sets.
Players in Open Era to win Monte Carlo in back to back years:
Nastase
Borg
Muster
Ferrero
Nadal
Tsitsipas
Speaking on Amazon Prime Video, Rusedski asserted that Tsitsipas' Monte-Carlo title defense solidifies him as a leading contender for the 2022 French Open.
"What a performance to win back-to-back titles," Rusedski said. "We saw the list of six champions to do that. All of the other names were No. 1s and Roland Garros champions. This puts Tsitsipas in a great position to have another run at the French Open. It puts him in the list with four guys you'd think have a real shot to win it, with Rafa [Nadal], Novak [Djokovic] and [Carlos] Alcaraz."
The former US Open finalist also reflected on the impressive run of Davidovich Fokina, who contested his first-ever ATP final. The Spaniard has risen to a career-high ranking of World No. 27 following his exploits in Monte-Carlo.
"It’s exciting times for men’s tennis," Rusedski said. "You also have to give a lot of credit to Davidovich Fokina. He’s had a fantastic week. There’s nothing to be ashamed about in his first final. He beat Djokovic and [Taylor] Fritz as well. I’m sure he’ll be back in a final again – maybe not at Masters level – but in the 250s and 500s."
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the favorite for me going into Madrid and Rome: Daniela Hantuchova
During the conversation, former World No. 5 Daniela Hantuchova declared that Stefanos Tsitsipas currently tops the list of French Open title contenders.
"I think Stefanos is leading that list [of French Open favorites]," Hantuchova said. "He’s got momentum going into the rest of the clay tournaments. He’s the favorite for me going into Madrid and Rome. He was very close against Novak in Rome and Paris last year. Carlos is also right there. We all believe he’s that good. He’ll be hungry to build momentum himself."
The Greek is in action again at this week's ATP 500 Barcelona Open, where he is the top seed. He will face either Ilya Ivashka or Pedro Martinez in his opening match.
The 23-year-old will then compete at the ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome, where he reached the last 16 and quarterfinals respectively in 2021.
Tsitsipas on clay 28-5 (2021-)
2021
Monte Carlo (Winner)
Barcelona (Finalist)
Madrid (3R)
Rome (QF)
Lyon (Winner)
RG (Finalist)
Hamburg (QF)
2022
Monte Carlo (Winner)