Stefanos Tsitsipas defied the odds and an ailing body to win a battle of endurance in precisely 2 hours and 59 minutes, thwarting Gael Monfils in three terrific sets, 6-4 6-7 6-7. The manner of this victory, in which Tsitsipas overcame the disappointment of conceding the first set before taking down an in-form Monfils, serves to provide fresh evidence to the tennis world that he is the coming man. As a result of his efforts, the 20-year-old will make his top 10 debut on Monday, making him the first Greek ever to feature amongst that elite number.
Tsitsipas had come out of the blocks fast, taking a 3-0 lead, before a nasty fall halted his momentum. Monfils, who was chasing a ninth successive win, was not slow to take advantage. He reeled off five straight games to take command of the opening set, with Tsitsipas unable to find an answer to his combination of punishing power and superb athleticism. Monfils served it out at the first time of asking to take it 6-4.
The Frenchman too was coming off a title-winning run, having gone all the way in Rotterdam a fortnight ago, and seemed the fresher of the two as he took control of the match, racing to a 3-1 lead in the second. However, Tsitsipas dug in and one could only marvel at his endurance. He drew two decisive errors to level the set at 3-3 and went on to force a second set tiebreak. It was a thriller, with Tsitsipas benefiting from Monfils’ failure to challenge at 5-4 when a Tsitsipas forehand went wide of the mark. Two shots later, Tsitsipas was level as he flashed a return winner past Monfils.
That Tsitsipas had mounted a comeback at all was impressive enough. The Greek youngster had only arrived in Dubai at 2 o’clock in the morning on Tuesday following his triumphant week in Marseille. But his work for the day was far from finished. Monfils, perhaps sensing his opponent’s flagging energy levels, pressed for the killer blow. But Tsitsipas saved four breakpoints at 3-4, denying Monfils the chance to serve for the match. The pressure was still on at 5-6 when Tsitsipas double faulted three times on every game point at 40-40. But he hung in and managed to force a tiebreak.
There, it was Monfils’ challenge that ran out of steam. Tsitsipas dominated the tiebreak, winning it seven points to four. In doing so, the man from Athens avenged his loss to Monfils and secured his place in the finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. He will face Roger Federer in a rematch of their emotional fourth round match at the Australian Open, with the chance to capture back-to-back ATP titles and he could be ranked as high as No.9 depending on John Isner’s performance in Acapulco.
It was a match symbolic of the Greek’s struggles, not in breaking in to the top 10, but of the ‘spark’ he felt he had lost after the thrashing he received at the hands of Rafael Nadal in the last four at the Australian Open. Tsitsipas has spoken more than once about his continuing attempts to get to terms of that chastening defeat, which affected him in Sofia and Rotterdam respectively. But now, with the chance to win fresh glory, it’s surely back.
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