Monte Carlo, April 15 (BNA): Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas came out on top after a thrilling quarter-final match with Diego Schwartzman, winning 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 on Friday to set a meeting with Diego Schwartzman. Alexander Zverev at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The Greek third seed was leading 5-2 in the second set but inexplicably lost the plot and trailed 4-0 in the deciding set before rediscovering his touch, Reuters reported.
And he will meet Alexander Zverev for a place in the final on Sunday after the German, ranked third in the world, achieved an epic 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Italian Yannick Sener.
Earlier, Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reached the semi-finals of the Masters Championship for the first time, defeating American Taylor Fritz 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
In the penultimate match of the day, Zverev and Sinner gave the Monte Carlo country fans an intense showdown.
A terrible serve match gave Zverev a 3-1 break but the German failed to hold on to the advantage and broke the Italian before winning the opening set.
After an early deal of breaks in the placebo group, Zverev took a medical reprieve and was given a pill by a physical therapist.
He had the desired effect on the German as he seemed to move more freely to claim the group.
The Italian then appeared to be held back by a thigh pull and Zverev went on to break 2-1 in the deciding set. Although Sinner managed to level the set, he made a sad double-fault to allow Zverev to lead 4-3.
In another development, Sinner broke back 5-5 and forced a break but was unable to cross the finish line, with Zverev taking the win on his first match point.
“It means a lot, sure, in particular [with] “How this year has been going so far for me,” Zverev said. I’ve lost long matches like this, so I’m glad I won this match. “
Tsitsipas vs Schwartzman looks set to be a walk in the park for the Greek.
He went fast 6-2 and 5-2 before suddenly losing his composure in an amazing fashion.
Schwartzman, the clay court specialist, forced the tiebreak, which he passed, and Tsitsipas looked lost, as he was penalized for a foot error.
He lost 4-0 in the third set but won the remaining six matches to finish with a second match point.
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