Tsitsipas Starts Three-Peat Attempt With 22-Minute Win As Bonzi Retires

Stefanos Tsitsipas didn’t have to do much in his first match at the Monte-Carlo Masters this year, advancing only after five games played.

Tsitsipas enjoys playing in Monte Carlo as it’s a place where he spends a lot of time, and he just likes the courts at the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event. Much like his mother decades ago, Tsitsipas is a champion in Monte Carlo, as he triumphed at the event last year by beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final.

The Greek player returned this year hoping to do something similar, and at least for now, it’s going really well. He didn’t have to fight much in his first match, though, as his opponent Benjamin Bonzi was hampered by an injury.

After only five games and with Tsitsipas leading 4-1, the French player decided to retire from the match. He simply couldn’t continue anymore, which was unfortunate for him, but Tsitsipas likely won’t mind not having to play the full match.

He was favored to win, but advancing like this isn’t something he will mind all that much, as it will save the Greek player some energy in his bid to defend his title.

The season has been quite interesting for Tsitsipas. He opened it pretty well by playing superb tennis Down Under in Australia. One of his good results was making the Australian Open final, but he hasn’t been able to make a final after that. He recorded early exits in Rotterdam, Indian Wells, and Miami.

With clay being one of the surfaces that he enjoys, Tsitsipas is expected to do much better in the coming weeks. This was a decent start, but he will certainly enjoy also some proper playing time in his next match.

That’s the only negative, but he’s one match closer to defending his trophy, which is the goal for the Greek player, who had some injury struggles himself but admitted that he felt fine ahead of the tournament in Monte Carlo.