Barcelona (AFP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas, winner of his first Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo last Sunday, qualified for his second straight final on the circuit on Saturday, beating Italy's Jannick Sinner (19th) in the semi-final of the clay court tournament. Barcelona 6-3, 6-3 in 1 h 23 min.
The Greek, 5th player in the world, will meet in the final of this ATP 500 tournament a Spaniard: either Rafael Nadal (3rd in the world), still on his way to a 12th title in the capital of Catalonia, or Pablo Carreno (13th), opposed in the second semi-final.
Tsitsipas made the break at 4-3 in a first set he won 6-3 in 41 minutes.
He converted a break point out of six, against 0 out of 2 for his young 19-year-old opponent.
In the next, Tsitsipas, after saving two break points at 1-2, then managed to take twice the serve of an Italian whom he largely dominated, to win the round in barely more time than the first, and the game.
Tsitsipas has won nine straight matches without losing a single set.
He now leads 2 wins to 1 in his head-to-head with Sinner, which all took place on clay.
The two players had met twice before, on Rome ocher, for a Tsitsipas victory in 2019, Sinner winning in 2020.
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