Monte Carlo: Tsitsipas moves past Zverev, set clash with Khachanov

Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a mid-match collapse on Thursday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he recovered from squandering a 5-0 lead in the second set against Alexander Zverev to eventually advance 7-5, 7-6(3).

The 25-year-old Greek has produced his best tennis at the clay-court event, lifting the trophy in 2021 and 2022. For a set and a half he was on top form once again in the Principality in his 15th Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Zverev.

“I would call it an adventure of a lifetime,” Tsitsipas said. “Something I am not faced with every single day and momentum shifted dramatically at some points. It went one way and then it went completely the other way again. I don’t even know, I am trying to figure out right now what happened. I was 5-0 in the second set. However, things looked pretty good in the tie-break, especially when I got the mini break.”

Tsitispas arrived in Monte-Carlo at No. 12 in the PIF ATP Rankings, having advanced beyond the quarter-finals at just one tour-level event so far this season (Los Cabos SF). The 12th seed is looking close to his best in the Principality, though, where he holds a 17-3 record.

Tsitsipas who leads the German 10-5 in their head to head series will next meet Karen Khachanov who advanced to the quarter-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for the first time on Thursday when he moved past World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to earn his fourth Top 5 win.