Greece’s Tsitsipas beats Norway’s Ruud to lift third title in Monaco

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to win his third Monte Carlo Masters title in four years.

Greece’s Tsitsipas, 25, dominated the opening stages and sealed the first set inside 36 minutes.

Norwegian Ruud fought valiantly in a tense second set, which was level at 4-4 before Tsitsipas pulled away in the final two games.

“It’s been a very difficult time for me, so to be back on the podium and winning, it’s amazing,” he said.

The victory took Tsitsipas to seventh in the world rankings and he fell to the floor in emotion after his win.

“I am extremely grateful to my friends, family and everyone behind this journey,” he added.

“To win three [titles] is just unbelievable - it was a nervewracking game but I am extremely happy.”

The success concluded a significant tournament for Tsitsipas as he also beat top-10 players Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner to reach the final.

He joined Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Thomas Muster and Ilie Nastase in the list of players to win three or more titles at Monte Carlo. Tsitsipas committed to a fearless style of play, dominating on the forehand and challenging Ruud’s tactics of playing deep from the court.

The positivity resulted in a first title since he beat Alex de Minaur in the final at Los Cabos, Mexico, last August - also ending a sketchy start to 2024 for the former French Open and Australian Open runner-up.

He broke Ruud’s serve in the third game of the first set and the Norwegian, who struggled for fluency, could not recover.

The 25-year-old Ruud improved significantly in the second set and a tense seventh game lasted 13 minutes, but Tsitsipas survived three break points.

In an impressive all-round performance, he saved all eight break points he faced and converted four of his own eight break opportunities.

Both players are set to play in the Barcelona Open in the coming week, where defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has been forced to withdraw with a forearm injury, but Rafael Nadal is set to make his comeback.