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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday April 12 2022

 
Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas stormed past Fabio Fognini to reach the third round at Monte-Carlo.

Photo Source: Getty

A matchup of the last two Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters champions went decisively in favor of Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek hammering 2019 champion Fabio Fognini 6-0, 6-3 to reach the third round in the Principality.

Tennis Express

It was the perfect start for the 2021 champion, who has now won 11 consecutive sets at Monte-Carlo. Fognini didn’t help his cause by committing 34 unforced errors against just 6 winners, and the 23-year-old Greek won 62 of the 100 points the pair played to improve to 18-7 on the season and 8-2 at Monte-Carlo.

More Monte-Carlo: Djokovic’s Return Spoiled by Davidovich Fokina

“Great tennis out there. Never easy to adjust to these kind of conditions,” Tsitipas said. “It was a little bit windy today, and cold, which is something I have never faced before in this tournament. But I came through very well, I was able to really perform close to my best and deliver the result that I did.”

The cool conditions didn’t keep Tsitsipas from controlling play. He finished with nine winners against 16 unforced errors, but was dictating with his forehand well.

“Nevertheless, I was still able to generate some good pace and create some good angles which gave me a lot of points," Tsitsipas said.


Tsitsipas will face either Laslo Djere or Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 16 at Monte-Carlo. He says it is an experience he does not take for granted.

“I’ve been coming to this tournament myself – I was sitting right behind the court watching my favorite players, and now I get to be playing in this court, which is extraordinary I would say.”

A Tough Loss for Fognini

The 34-Year-Old Italian was hanging on to half of his points from winning the title in 2019, which means he will drop significantly in next week's rankings. He'll be out of the Top-50 for the first time in a decade.


Dimitrov Reaches Round Three

Grigor Dimitrov closed out a cool evening in Monte-Carlo with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dusan Lajovic. The Bulgarian, a semifinalist in 2018 at Monte-Carlo, improved to 18-8 lifetime at Monte-Carlo and set a third-round clash with either Holger Rune or Casper Ruud.

Rune, who won the San Remo Challenger last week, qualified for the main draw and knocked off Aslan Karatsev on Tuesday, 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-3.

Other winners on a busy Tuesday were No.10-seeded Taylor Fritz, who eased past Lucas Catarina 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-4. Lorenzo Musetti handed Benoit Paire a 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4 loss, while David Goffin, last week’s Marrakech champion, defeated Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-3.

Wednesday’s order of play features several exciting second-round matchups, including Carlos Alcaraz vs Sebastian Korda, Musetti vs Felix Auger-Aliassime and Holger Ruun vs Casper Ruud.

 

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