World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas eased past world No.3 Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-2 to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final.
Tsitsipas made a quick recovery against a slow Zverev winning all three of his clay court matches against the German and will take on surprise finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, today, Sunday.
The Spaniard, who will contest his first singles final on the ATP tour, earlier beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-7 (7-2) 6-3 in a see-sawing semi-final.
Tsitsipas claimed the first break of the match in the second game but Zverev broke back in the third game. Tsitsipas broke Zverev again in the sixth game but failed to serve out for the first set in the ninth game. However this didn’t impact Tsitsipas as he earned his third break in the 10th game when Zverev was serving to stay in the set.
The two players were tied at two games apiece in the second set, before Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back breaks and won four games in a row to complete a straight-set win.
“It was good,” said Tsitsipas in his on-court interview after his win in just 75 minutes.
“I don’t know whether the long match gave me some rhythm, but I was able to play good tennis today. I’m happy with the level I was able to execute and come up with some good ideas on the court.”
On playing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final at 10.30pm AEST, Tsitsipas said that: “It’s going to take a little bit more”.
“He’s on a good run, in a good rhythm. I’ve played him before, he’s a good opponent, I’ve had big battles against him and I’m going to try and be as ready as possible. “I know he’s improved from before and I’m going to have that in the back of my head, to produce the best tennis that I can.”