Stefanos Tsitsipas emerged victorious in a straight sets win over Casper Ruud, securing his third championship in Monte Carlo. Tsitsipas, who had previously triumphed in 2021, now boasts an impressive record of winning three of the last four editions of the Masters-1000 event. The final saw the presence of Formula 1 sensation Charles Leclerc, who is also a Ferrari driver.
Leclerc, known for his passion for tennis, reached the men’s singles final in Monte Carlo this year. After the trophy presentation, Tsitsipas and Leclerc engaged in a conversation that resulted in an agreement to race together. During the discussion, Leclerc shared his future schedule, which includes races in Shanghai, Miami, and Monaco. Tsitsipas expressed his interest in attending the Monaco Grand Prix, although he expressed some reservations due to its proximity to the tennis tournament.
The topic of karting came up during the conversation, with Leclerc asking about Tsitsipas’ interest in the activity. Tsitsipas mentioned his desire to try it out and discovered they have a mutual friend, Seb Delanney. This revelation excited Leclerc, who proposed organizing a joint karting session. In a lighthearted moment, Tsitsipas joked about whether he would be able to fit in a kart, to which Leclerc promptly responded.
In the final match, Tsitsipas defeated Ruud with a score of 6-1, 6-4, securing his first victory in a clay court Masters event of the season. Despite facing a tough challenge from an in-form opponent in the semifinals, Tsitsipas only dropped one set throughout the week. However, his performance in the Happy Slam and subsequent losses prevented him from returning to the Top-10 of the rankings, despite his runner-up finish in 2023.
With his victory in Monte Carlo, Tsitsipas experienced a significant jump in the rankings, moving up five positions to secure the 7th spot in the singles ranking. Meanwhile, Ruud earned 560 points and climbed four positions to become the number 6 in the world. The Top-5 of the ranking remained unchanged. Meanwhile, the world number 1 maintained his dominance, once again surpassing the 10,000 points mark in the ranking and leading the world number 2, Sinner, by 1285 points.
Tsitsipas now faces a formidable challenge in Barcelona this week, where he has already been a runner-up three times in five appearances during the 2023 edition.
