Stefanos Tsitsipas continues to dominate on the clay in Monte-Carlo, this time with a dominant win over Nuno Borges 6-1, 6-1.
It was the Greek’s 50th clay-court ATP Masters 1000 victory, 22 of which have come in Monte-Carlo, where he is a three-time champion.
Now into the quarter-finals, Tsitsipas is seeking his fourth title which will break a tie with Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg and Thomas Muster to become the second most successful player in the tournament’s history, behind Rafael Nadal (11 titles).
“Most games were really close,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview.
“I felt most of the games were ending at the 40/30 score, there was a lot of action. I don’t think the score resembles the match. There was a lot more than the score shows.
“We both tried to push each other to the limit. He was maybe unable to take advantage of certain opportunities and I handled them much better than I expected.”
The sixth-seed was just too good for his Portuguese opponent, overpowering him with his weight shot and dragging him corner to corner for the majority of the 67-minute clash. He also saved all five break points he faced in the first set.
Tsitsipas has won all 15 matches he has played in The Principality against players outside the Top 20.
Now seeking his second title of the year (Dubai), the sixth seed will next meet Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
“I know I have scored good wins here and played some good tennis,” Tsitsipas said.
“I want to come back onto this court and do more and accept the new challenges. I am just trying to take it match by match.
“I want to create way more memories on this court and I want to play better tomorrow against Lorenzo, who is a great clay-court player.”
