Monte Carlo Masters Takeaways – New name destined for title as shocks continue with Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune winning

We are down to the business end of the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters with some shock quarter-final results ensuring there will be a new name on the trophy on Sunday evening.

Paul Hassall was at the Monte Carlo Country Club on Day 7 to take in the four matches on Court Rainier III and pick out some of the main takeaways from the action.

No hat-trick for Stef as on-fire Fritz ends Greek’s reign

Following Novak Djokovic’s shock exit on Thursday night, Stefanos Tsitsipas must have been quietly confident there was no-one better placed than him to go on and lift the Monte Carlo Masters trophy for the third time in a row in the Principality.

How wrong he was.

There would be no ‘three-peat’ nor a potential Rafael Nadal-style monopoly of the tournament going forward as he instead suffered a chastening defeat, only his third ever at the MCCC, against an opponent who has suggested very little clay-court prowess previously in comparison.

World No.10 Taylor Fritz has stormed up the ATP rankings in the past year with some excellent result on hard courts but he’s not been known for making an impact on the dirt.

The 25-year-old Californian has never gone beyond the third round at Roland Garros and has made little impact in Madrid and Rome.

In contrast, Tsitsipas, who will drop to No.5 on the ATP rankings on Monday after failing to defend the trophy, has won four clay titles and competed in 10 finals on the surface, including Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros.

Fritz’s best result on the ‘la terre battue’ prior to this week came via a quarter-final appearance in Monte Carlo last year, but he’s now gone one better after producing a near-faultless display, outgunning the No.2 seed Tsitsipas to win 6-2 6-4 and threaten the prospect of an 11th Tour final – and his first ever on clay.

You would be foolish to rule it out either with Fritz hitting new heights on the surface after impressing against Stan Wawrinka and Jiri Lehecka earlier in the week.

Rublev ends Struff’s fairytale run with maiden Masters title in his sights

Fritz’s opponent in Saturday’s first semi-final will be Andrey Rublev after the Russian ended qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff’s surprise surge to the last eight.

The 32-year-old German was on the verge of the best week of his career having also reached the same stage at the Cincinnati Masters three years ago, but he could not back up his victory over No.4 seed Casper Ruud as the underdog’s lucky streak suddenly went bust in Monte Carlo.

Rublev was the man with the better hand throughout, particular in the opener when he peppered the German with ferocious shots off both wings and penned the 32-year-old deep in his backhand corner.

Struff, who arrived in the Principality ranked at 100 in the world but will now provisionally rise to 64, found his hefty serve more often in the second set and Rublev was not far from one of his famous strops despite remaining in control.

The world No.6 slapped his racquet against his thighs and was warned about his volatile, vocal outbursts by the chair umpire before calming himself to demonstrate more maturity in the latter stages of Set 2 and despatching JLS via a tie break.

There’s no denying that Rublev has the game and the pedigree to triumph in the elite tournaments on clay having reached the last eight on two occasions at Roland Garros as well the same stage in Madrid and Rome.

The 25-year-old has also won three titles on the surface, having triumphed in Croatia in 2017, Hamburg in 2020 and, perhaps most notably, notching a bagel on an undercooked Novak Djokovic in the deciding set at the Serbia Open last year.

He has looked sharp all week and is now just one win away from progressing to a third Masters 1000 final. If he does, he will be hoping it is third time lucky having fallen at the final hurdle in Cincinnati and here in Monte Carlo two years ago.

Rune ends Medvedev’s hopes of a maiden clay-court title

Daniil Medvedev has never made any secret of his disdain for this surface.

Two years ago in Rome he amused his compatriot Rublev, watching in the stands, with his almost comedic outbursts, muttering to himself: “You like to be in the dirt like a dog? It’s okay, I don’t judge.” He even asked the supervisor to disqualify him, such was his feeling that his game just didn’t complement this type of court.

It has not gone unnoticed in the locker room either with Jannik Sinner cheekily joking about the Russian’s level on clay during the on-court ceremony following their Miami Masters final recently.

Alexander Zverev also poked fun at the former World No.1 by suggesting it would be funny to see Medvedev win his maiden title on clay this year when taking part in a predictions video for the ATP. Of course, the joke was on the German after Medvedev saved match points to down the Olympic champion in the Last-16 on Thursday night.

So, the prospect of that first clay-court title suddenly needed to be taken far more seriously, but just as you were beginning to wonder ‘what if,’ he came up well short against Holger Rune.

The Dane is never shy of discussing the high expectations he has of himself and he produced a sublime display to defeat Medvedev in straight sets with a mix of bullet winners, flexible defence and artistic drop shots.

The presence of Carlos Alcaraz may have been heavily missed at this tournament at first, but it says much about this particular 19-year-old that no-one is really talking about the Spaniard right now.

Rune has also been making plenty of waves via his own metoric rise and is a very serious candidate for the title, with Medvedev giving the teenager his backing with some warm comments about the Dane’s clay-court game in his post-match press conference.

All-Italian showdown fails to ignite as Sinner marches on

Italy’s press, celebs and crowd turned out for this one with the Monte Carlo Country Club less than 10 miles from the Italian border.

Expectations were high too, following Lorenzo Musetti’s sensational victory over world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the Last 16.

Unfortunately, it rarely lived up to its billing in much calmer conditions with Musetti struggling to handle his compatriot’s heavy-hitting throughout a very one-sided affair.

Whether there was fatigue or a mental let down from Musetti following the highs of beating Djokovic, it was clear that Sinner had the upper hand as he moved to 2-0 in the head-to-head with his fellow 21-year-old and a 7-0 perfect record against players from Italy. The world No.8 also became the only man to reach the semi-finals at all three Masters events so far this year, highlighting the view that he is on the brink of taking the next, significant step in his career.

Earlier this week, we backed Sinner and Rune to make a real impact on the European clay-swing and they have not disappointed. One of the two will reach Sunday’s final with an explosive last-four showdown third up on Court Rainier III on Saturday afternoon.

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