Stefanos Tsitsipas shrugs off double-fault controversy en route to Monte Carlo final

Stefanos Tsitsipas returned to his third Rolex Monte Carlo Masters final in four years after toppling red-hot Jannik Sinner, with the Australian Open champion racking up a nine-match win-streak leading up to their semifinal meeting.

But the Greek's high quality tennis—he struck seven aces and 27 winners on Saturday—was nearly overshadowed by one missed call late in the final set that both players revealed changed the course of the match.

With Tsitsipas serving at 1-3 and facing a point for a double-break deficit, Sinner looked to be closing in on a hard-fought victory. But a lapse in judgment from the officiating crew—Monte Carlo employs linespeople, with all ATP Tour events set to change to Hawkeye Live in 2025—saw them miss a clear double fault from the Greek.

Instead the second serve was allowed in, and ultimately became the turning point as Tsitsipas held serve and started working his way back. He closed out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win after two hours and 40 minutes, as Sinner began getting tight.

“It might have had bigger influence to my opponent than it had on me,” the No. 12 seed admitted in his post-match press conference. “I was dealing with a break down at that moment…

“I think the match would have turned out completely different if that would have been called out,” he added. “I will agree that it would have been pretty bad for me if that call was made. There are a lot of weird things on clay that we don't see on other surfaces. One of them is the line calling and sometimes the marking.”

Cool-headed Sinner took the situation in stride, but agreed that the missed call lingered in his head as the set continued. In fact, he later started struggling physically due to cramps in his legs because “the nervous side of the brain” couldn’t let it go, as Tsitsipas reeled off the last four games in a row to complete the turnaround.

“It's tough, a tough one to swallow, because I was playing at some point great tennis,” Sinner told press afterward. “Everyone can make mistakes unfortunately or fortunately. You know, also I can make mistakes. And it went like this.

“Then after, having cramps, it's a consequence most likely of what happened because it also goes in the nervous side of the brain and then after, it's not easy to play. I tried my best still.”

While Tsitsipas added that he doesn’t get into “conversations or arguments with umpires” because “I understand mistakes can happen,” he was also quick to point out a few other high-profile officiating blunders this week in Monte Carlo—what he called ”not a beautiful side of the sport”.

But despite the moment of controversy, there’s little that will reign on Tsitsipas parade as he shrugs off the noise ahead of his third Monte Carlo final where Casper Ruud awaits. The Norwegian pulled off an upset of his own as he took down Novak Djokovic in three sets, and Tsitsipas will have to bring the level to match as he seeks a hat trick in the Principality.

“It was one of the best first sets I have played on clay,” Tsitsipas said of his match with Sinner. “So much consistency and great quality of shot-making. Just pure, clean game from start to finish. I was playing as equally good on the cross as I was playing on the down-the-line.

“It was a great feeling to be kind of in the zone right from the beginning.”