Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas breezed into the Monte Carlo Masters final after dispatching second-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.
Tsitsipas lined up the first big final of the clay-court season against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the Spaniard who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Davidovich Fokina reached his first ATP final by beating Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
Tsitsipas dominated Zverev on clay like the Greek never had previously. Zverev recovered from a break down twice in the first set that Tsitsipas took with a third break in the 10th game.
Never in doubt ????????<br><br>A rock-steady <a href=”https://twitter.com/steftsitsipas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@steftsitsipas</a> gets past Zverev 6-4 6-2 and will defend his <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RolexMCMasters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RolexMCMasters</a> title tomorrow! <a href=”https://t.co/vBleRyVhQb”>pic.twitter.com/vBleRyVhQb</a>
—@TennisTV
No. 5-ranked Tsitsipas then broke twice more in the second set and improved his record against No. 3 Zverev to 7-3, on clay to 3-0. The German won both of their hard-court contests last year.
Tsitsipas was on court just 12 hours after winning a long quarterfinal.
“I had to put my soul out,” Tsitsipas said.
The unseeded Davidovich Fokina took the first set from Dimitrov with ease, but squandered the chance at 5-4 in the second to take the semifinal in straight sets. The third set was tense. Davidovich Fokina overcame a break and 2-0 down.
“I pushed myself to the limit,” Davidovich Fokina said. “I’m glad that I pushed myself to that.”
The Spaniard will try to prevent Tsitsipas from becoming the first repeat Monte Carlo champion since Rafael Nadal in 2018. Tsitsipas has a 2-0 record against him, including in February in the Netherlands.
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