Time to challenge old guard
Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Andrey Rublev in the final of the Rolex Montecarlo Masters today.
Whoever wins, it will mean a first Masters title for one of the leading members of the new generation attempting to wrestle control of men’s tennis from its ageing juggernauts.
Tsitsipas and Rublev have both enjoyed strong starts to 2021 and the champion this afternoon will head the annual standings following shock losses for Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Rublev beat Nadal with a brilliant performance in the quarter-finals and he followed that up by seeing off Norwegian clay specialist Casper Ruud 6-3 7-5.
Tsitsipas is yet to drop a set and he was completely dominant in a 6-2 6-1 victory over Djokovic’s conqueror Dan Evans.
The Greek, who has previously lost Masters finals in Madrid and Canada, said: “I really, really want to be in that position where I come close to winning big tournaments like this, like the Rolex Masters here in Montecarlo. It’s a dream of mine to be playing in the final, honestly.
“We’re kind of used to seeing Djokovic and Nadal go deep in the tournaments.
“Just let the young guns show what they got, I guess. It’s how it should be sometimes. Maybe actually always. It’s time for always, not sometimes.”