Thiago Monteiro surpasses Tsitsipas, number 7 in the world, in Madrid

Thiago Monteiro celebrating his victory. Photo: Twitter/ @atptour

The biggest victory of Thiago Monteiro’s career occurred this Saturday (27). With an impressive performance, the Brazilian tennis player scored 2 sets to 0 (double 6/4) against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, current number 7 in the world. It is the fourth time that Thiago has won a top-10 in his career and, as a bonus, he advances to the third round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid for the first time.

Who would have thought that a tennis player coming from the quali, number 118 in the world, would go head to head with a number 6 seed in such a big tournament? Well, anyone who woke up early this Saturday morning saw consistent strikes from the back of the court by Thiago Monteiro. Thus, the Brazilian put Tsitsipas to run on the Spanish clay.

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“Definitely one of the biggest victories of my career”, celebrated Thiago at the end of the match. “I knew it was a very difficult match and I tried to believe in myself the whole time. I was feeling really good on the court today. With these conditions, I tend to really enjoy playing on clay and at altitude. I’ve already played three matches, so I had a bit of rhythm and confidence, so I fought until the end and believed I could win this match”, analyzed the Brazilian.

The duel

Initially, the match started with a study rhythm on both sides and each tennis player confirming their first serve. However, after winning four consecutive points, Thiago broke the Greek’s game in the opponent’s second service game. Then, he didn’t give up a single breakpoint and confirmed all his serves to finish the first set.

The Brazilian’s serve was very annoying, with 89% of first serves entering the court and winning 76% of the points in this situation. By way of comparison, Tsitsitpas scored 62% of first serves and won only 67% of the points in that situation.

Then, taking advantage of his opponent’s new weakness, Thiago broke the Greek’s serve again in the first game of the second set. From then on, the dynamics were the same as the previous part. Monteiro had up to four more breakpoints in favor, but did not confirm it. Finally, the Brazilian saved the only breakpoint he conceded, in the decisive game of the match and closed in 1h36min.

Now, Thiago will face another seed in the tournament, number 30, the Czech Jiri Lehecka.

Journalist graduated in 2013, but I have been working since 2008, when I joined P. Mackenzie University. I worked for six years at Diário Lance!. I passed by Punteiro Izquierdo, Surto Olímpico, Torcedores and Municipal Secretariat of Sports and Leisure of São Paulo. I joined OTD in April 2023.