This week has a truly enormous importance for Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is ‘forced’ to defend his title in Monte Carlo if he wants to avoid sinking in the ATP ranking ahead of Roland Garros. The Greek ace has almost always played exceptional tennis in this tournament, where he has triumphed three times, finding a perfect feeling with the courts and the crowd.
The 2019 ATP Finals champion is certainly not going through the best moment of his career, although some positive signs have been seen in the recent period. Thanks to his courageous decision to change rackets, ‘Tsitsi’ returned to play brilliant and aggressive tennis that allowed him to win the Dubai ATP 500 after a truly exciting run.
Fans and insiders expected that the champion from Athens would also shine in the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami – taking advantage of the absence of world number 1 Jannik Sinner – but his results in California and Florida did not live up to expectations.
Is Apostolos back?
There is no doubt that Stefanos has a lot of pressure in the red clay season, where he has to prove that he is back in his best version.
The former world number 3 had a lot of difficulties in his first match in the Principality, where he prevailed in three sets against the Australian ace Jordan Thompson (a dangerous player, but not a red clay specialist).
“I tried to work around my serve, I felt like these were the moments that were tricky at the start of the match,” he said after the match. “Once that felt more consistent, I tried to focus on my return. Trying to return from far back didn’t seem to work much… I have had success returning far back on clay courts, but today it didn’t do the job, so I had to rely on closer returns, and it seemed to work well” – the Greek ace concluded.
During Stefanos’ debut in Monte Carlo, fans certainly noticed the presence of Apostolos Tsitsipas in his son’s box. At the moment it is unclear if he was just watching Stefanos’ match or if he returned to have a role in his team.
Apostolos Tsitsipas back at Stefanos box in Monte Carlo👀
He was there last year and Stef won so I think that is the reason
Let’s see if he’ll continue during the year or not #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/9w5JYcwR8c
— Tennis Talks (@TennisTalksPT) April 8, 2025
