Reaching the final of a Masters 1,000 is extremely difficult. With 5-3 and 5-4 in the second set, Alejandro Davidovich, at an exalted level up to that moment, proved it. When the most complicated seemed to be over, it had just begun. That final game, that know how to culminate. That experience for the moment of truth. If reaching it is difficult, winning the title… With the champion in front, defending it, the complexity rises to the maximum exponent. That is what the Spanish tennis player will have to face tomorrow (14:30, #Vamos). To a brilliant Stefanos Tsitsipas in his semifinal (6-4, 6-2 in 1h15), against a weakened Alexander Zverev, with discomfort, but that is still number three in the world. The Malaga dream goes through the champion. Very high toll.
two sets, two very different partials and a common denominator: Greek supremacy. Before meeting in Monte Carlo, Tsitsipas, fifth in the world, and the German player had met five times. Of them, several conclusions that are reaffirmed: in the matches between the two, the service turns are not respected and, on clay, Stefanos has the upper hand. It happened in Madrid (2019), it happened in an exciting Roland Garros semifinal (2021) and it has been repeated in Monaco.
From the exchange of breaks to the Hellenic firmness
From one side to the other without stopping until he found the solidity of Tsitsipas. Seven breaks in total, spread over the first round and with a single victim in the second: Zverev. The German, who showed symptoms of fatigue or physical problems at various times, started the match very disorientedmarked by its unforced errors and by the constants breaks to one side and another. He looked at his team, without finding solutions and, meanwhile, the champion assumed stripes, keeping time and direction of the duel. Stefanos matured in the first set, in which Alexander saved 3/8 breaks and he 2/4, and swept the secondwith two breaks unanswered.
Zverev, unrecognizable in his game and even in his attitude, far from his usual anger, showed no opposition in the final parade of the defending champion. Red carpet fueled by a solid service unthinkable during the first set: 92% of points won with first, 80% with seconds and four aces for Tsitsipas in the second round. A steamroller at full capacity despite the demanding quarterfinal match against Schwartzman. A sublime tennis player who wants to revalidate the crown and add his eighth ATP title. Before, he will have to overcome Davidovich, who longs for the first.