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World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas insisted he knew Laslo Djere wouldn't be an easy opponent as he was glad he managed to overcome the Serb in straight sets and progress into the Monte Carlo quarterfinal. Tsitsipas, seeded at No.
3, reached back-to-back Monte Carlo quarterfinals after beating Djere 7-5 7-6 (1). It was the second meeting between Tsitsipas and Djere on the ATP Tour and the Greek's second win, having beaten the Serb 7-6 (7) 7-6 (4) when they met in Acapulco in February.
“I knew I had to be alert,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. “He is someone who competes very well on clay. He stays consistent and puts a lot of balls back and I really had to work hard for this win.
It was important to get a good dynamic start in the tie-break and stay in rallies and take my chances when they appeared”.
Tsitsipas claimed a tight two-set win over Djere
Tsitsipas had a set point on Djere's serve in the 10th game but the Serb saved to level the set to five games apiece.
Tsitsipas didn't get a break in the 10th game but kept pressing Djere as he broke the Serb in the 12th game when he was serving to stay in the first set. After losing the first set, Djere had a chance to start the second set with a break but missed out a break point in the third game.
As no breaks were seen, the second set had to be resolved in a tie-break. Tsitsipas won the first five points of the tie-break, before realizing his first match point to seal a straight-set win. Tsitsipas plays next Diego Schwartzman, who defeated Lorenzo Musetti.
“Both [Schwartzman and Musetti] can compete well on clay,” Tsitsipas added. “They both have a good game for clay courts and all I have to do is be ready and show up with good mentality and do my job with passion and dedication”.