Fritz knocks out Tsitsipas in straight sets

(Monaco) Taylor Fritz upset two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitispas 6-2, 6-4 on Friday to earn his ticket to the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Tennis Masters 1000.

The elimination of second-seeded Tsitsipas was followed by that of third-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who lost in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to Denmark’s Holger Rune (6^e).

These outcomes mean that the first three seeds of the tournament have had to pack up. Thursday, in the third round, the favorite Novak Djokovic lost in three sets against Lorenzo Musetti.

Tsitsipas came onto the court on the strength of a 12-game winning streak in Monte Carlo, where he collected his two career Masters 1000 titles.

“I stuck to the strategy of attacking the ball early and avoiding allowing him to dictate the tempo with his forehand,” the eighth-seeded Fritz said shortly after his triumph.

Tsitsipas had broken serve to make it 4-4 in the second set, but Fritz responded with a break in the next game. The American ended the duel with an ace, without conceding a single point to the Greek in the final game.

“I found that the level of my game was very high. I think I played a very good game. Defeating her here gives me a lot of confidence,” mentioned Fritz, who had 17 game winners.

“It gives me the confidence I needed to know that I could play well on clay,” he continued.

Fritz has won five career tournaments, including two this year. However, he has yet to win on clay.

Fritz’s next opponent will be Russian Andrey Rublev (5^e), which eliminated Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 7-6 (5).

For his part, Medvedev, who had to save two match points before eliminating Alexander Zverev on Thursday, was disturbed by the crowd at the end of the first set and spoke to the chief referee about it.

Medvedev broke to make it 2-2 in the second set, but swept his racket to the ground after conceding the final point.

The Russian was trying to participate in a sixth final in a row this year, he who already has four titles in 2023.

“I have huge respect for everything he’s done,” Rune said. “It was not easy to stop him, but I’m happy that I managed to do it. »

Rune, who orchestrated a comeback to defeat Djokovic and win the Paris Masters last November, is looking for a first title this year.

The 19-year-old Rune will play his next match against 21-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner.

Sinner (7^e) easily defeated Musetti 6-2, 6-2 in a duel between two Italians. He was thus able to qualify for a third consecutive semi-final at a Masters 1000 type tournament this season.

“I felt good on the court today. I hit the ball in the right places, at the right times,” Sinner described. “I tried to remain combative, which I did. »

Sinner had two breaks of serve in the second set, and he converted his first match point with a powerful first serve that Musetti returned over the baseline.

Two weeks ago, Sinner lost to Medvedev in the Miami Masters final. Two weeks earlier, in Indian Wells, he had lowered his flag against Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz and fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal failed in Monte-Carlo, as did Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime.