The double title holder Stefanos Tsitsipas, 3rd in the world, was eliminated on Friday in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo by the American Taylor Fritz (10th) 6-2, 6-4 in 1h10.
The Greek had won their three previous meetings, on hard court, and remained on a series of twelve games won on Monegasque soil – with only one set lost in total – but he was overtaken by Fritz who will face the Russian Andrey Rublev (6th) Saturday for a place in the final.
“My level was very high, I played very well, savored Fritz. Beating him here gives me a lot of confidence.”
The 25-year-old American won the best of his five titles to date in 2022 at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and had never reached the last four in the Principality. Last year, he was stopped there in the quarterfinals by Alejandro Davidovich, future finalist.
He becomes the first American to reach the semis in Monte Carlo since Vince Spadea in 2003.
By winning the Delray Beach tournament this year, he had climbed to 5th place in the world, becoming the first American to enter the Top5 since Andy Roddick in September 2009.
Tsitsipas was completely overwhelmed during the first set, failing to produce the game that allowed him to dominate Nicolas Jarry (58th) in the previous round.
He regained some of his effectiveness in the second, but not enough.
A first time, he managed to unbreak to come back to 4-4, but he lost his face-off once more and Fritz served for the match at 5-4. With an ace, the American converted his first match point.
