Tsitsipas continues winning run, enters Barcelona final
By IANS |
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Tsitsipas continues winning run, enters Barcelona final. Image Source: IANS News
Barcelona, April 24 : World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas made it to the final of the Barcelona Open, defeating Italy s Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in the ATP 500 event on Saturday. The Greek will take on the winner of the semi-final between Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta.
It was at the same venue three years ago that Tsitsipas had made a major breakthrough, reaching his maiden ATP Tour final.
The reigning Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion saved all four break points he faced to improve his unbeaten record on clay this year to 9-0.
16-10
In a repeat of the 2018 final, Tsitsipas will meet 11-time champion Rafael Nadal for the trophy. The 20-time Grand Slam champion charged past Marbella champion Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-2 in 89 minutes. Nadal won the 2018 championship match 6-2, 6-1, but Tsitsipas rallied from two sets down in their most recent meeting at the Australian Open in February.
“It feels great to be back [in the final]. I will try to redeem myself from last time… [Rafa] is someone that I really respect and have always dreamed of beating,” said Tsitsipas. “The fact that I was able to do it this year pushes me to push myself. I feel like I need experiences like this to grow as a player. A final is always a very important phase in a tournament.”
Top seed to face Tsitsipas in final
The 11-time champion landed 13 forehand winners and claimed four service breaks to extend his unbeaten ATP Head2Head record against Carreno Busta to 8-0. Nadal made quick starts to both sets and reached his 69th clay final after 89 minutes (60-8).
“I am very happy to be back in a final here at an historic event, a home event [and] an important one for me,” said Nadal. “I think I did things well today, better than the other days. I have been improving every single day a little bit more.”
Nadal is chasing his 12th title at the ATP 500 event. The 60-time clay-court titlist is the only player to lift 12 or more tour-level trophies at the same tournament, having claimed 13 titles at Roland Garros.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas extended his straight-sets winning streak to seven on Thursday by booking a place in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell quarter-finals.
The second-seeded Greek, who captured his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev) on Sunday, was impressive in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 14 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in 84 minutes. He is now 24-5 on the 2021 season. I was playing close to the lines so that was definitely difficult, Tsitsipas said. He’s a good competitor; he always puts out his best game. I think running and getting an extra ball back is actually his biggest strength so that’s what makes him very difficult to play against.
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At the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who have won a combined 13 titles at the tournament, were both upset early. In his Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell opener on Wednesday, Nadal lost a set against World No. 111 Ilya Ivashka.
Is there trouble brewing for two of tennis’ all-time greats? Djokovic isn’t concerned.
“We probably made a lot of people think that we can play perfect tennis every single week for the rest of our lives, but that’s not possible,” Djokovic said, cracking a laugh. “I don’t think there is anything strange, it’s just a bad week, [if] our opponents have a very good day, they win a tennis match. It’s as simple as that.”