MONACO • Stefanos Tsitsipas is hoping it will be a case of third time lucky at a Masters 1000 final today, after previous defeats by Rafael Nadal at Toronto in 2018 and top-ranked Novak Djokovic at Madrid a year later.
The Greek ended the dream run of Dan Evans in emphatic fashion, taking just over an hour to dispatch the Briton 6-2, 6-1 at the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday.
He advanced to his second ATP Tour final of the year after last month's runner-up finish in Acapulco.
His opponent had been on a roll, stunning Djokovic in the last 16 for his maiden win over the 18-time Grand Slam champion before causing another upset in eliminating another seed in David Goffin. But his journey - this had been the furthest Evans, with just one ATP 250 title, had gone at this level - came to a halt in the semi-finals.
Tsitsipas has yet to drop a set at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and the world No. 5 is happy with how he is performing on clay.
"I am indeed pleased with the performance," he said after beating Evans. "I found ways to play at my best. It was really difficult to maintain my level of consistency."
His opponent in today's final is Andrey Rublev, who swatted aside Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-3, 7-5 in the other semi-final.
Tsitsipas' head-to-head record with the Russian - who is one of the form players on the tour with four titles in the last eight months, including last month's Rotterdam Open - stands at 3-3.
The world No. 8 also stunned Nadal in the last eight. The Spaniard had been gunning for his 12th title in the principality, only to lose 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on Friday.
Afterwards, world No. 3 Nadal rued the missed chance "to start the clay season in the right way".
"It's been such an important tournament during my career. I'm always sad to lose here... The only thing I can do is go to Barcelona and keep practising," he said.
Monte Carlo will be followed by Barcelona, Madrid and Rome before the French Open starts on May 30.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
ATP MONTE CARLO OPEN
Finals: StarHub Ch211, 6pm & 8.30pm
