In-form Tsitsipas aims to go one better

BARCELONA • Stefanos Tsitsipas, winner of his first Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo last week, booked his place in a second successive final when he beat the Italian teenager Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 at the ATP 500 Barcelona Open yesterday.

The Greek, ranked fifth in the world, will today meet the winner of the second semi-final between Rafael Nadal and fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

Tsitsipas could only convert one of six break points in the first set but it was enough for him to take it in 41 minutes. He had to save two break points at 1-2 in the second before going on to break Sinner twice to seal the match.

He has now won nine straight matches without dropping a single set and is the joint most in-form player on the Tour alongside Russian seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev, with 26 wins this season.

In 2018, the 22-year-old reached his maiden ATP Tour final here, but fell to Nadal. He aims to finish the job this time.

"It feels great to be back. I will try to redeem myself from last time… I am looking forward to whoever I have to play," said Tsitsipas, who has now won 10 of his 12 matches on the clay of Barcelona. "It was a learning experience for me playing the first final against Rafa. He's someone I really respect and I've always dreamed of beating. The fact I was able to do it this year (in the Australian Open quarter-finals) pushes me even further. I feel I need experiences like this to push me forward in my career.

"It was very close. It was a close match. He (Sinner) had a lot of break point opportunities on my serve. It could have been different, but... I converted those break points. That was crucial and very important."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on April 25, 2021, with the headline In-form Tsitsipas aims to go one better. Subscribe