A sunny day in Monaco was not awarded with the greatest of finals, but Stefanos Tsitsipas won't care as he defended his trophy from last year successfully with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the heavy favorite heading into this matchup. The Spaniard had never played in a final before, and playing in an ATP 1000 one is tricky. He certainly entered the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters final a bit nervous, sailing a few balls wide to start the match.
Davidovich Fokina showed his intent rather quickly; he was keen on attacking in rallies, placing the win on his racquet. It seemed like the winning combination when he took a 2-1 lead early in the match. However, some nerves and a few misses gave that lead away in the next game.
The Spaniard started struggling after that, as Tsitsipas kept his level pretty stable. There were some good serves, a couple of forehand winners, and some misses by Davidovich Fokina, and Tsitsipas, who had to overcome Alexander Zverev in the previous round, was up 5-3.
After another solid game, he won the set 6-3. The Spaniard looked completely depleted, as he lacked energy compared to his previous matches. That was understandable, considering the amount of tennis played this week, but it did not look good when the Greek went 2-0 up early in the second set of the final match.
Tsitsipas then lost his one-break lead in the second set. The second set then reached a tie-break as Tsitsipas prevailed 7-3. He was able to pull through and defend his trophy at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters.
It is a very important win for the Greek player, who could have lost a significant part of his 1000 points from last year's triumph, but he will not lose a single point.