Well Monte-Carlo has come to an end for another year and well, it was slightly unexpected and underwhelming overall. No Nadal, no Alcaraz and a slighly rusty Djokovic looking to get his clay season underway. Ruud vs Tsitsipas for the trophy, how many of you predicted that before the tournament started? I want to talk about a few things including comparing the tournament stats of both the finalists throughout the tournament with the stats for the final. Lets see if there if there are any large discrepancies –
Stats for the final
Service hold %
56% for Ruud and 100% for Tsitsipas
Return Pts Won %
36% for Ruud and 44% for Tsitsipas
1st Serve Points Won %
67% for Ruud and 60% for Tsitsipas
Won first set %
0% for Ruud and 100% for Tsitsipas
2nd Serve Points Won %
37% for Ruud and 68% for Tsitsipas
Break Points Saved %
50% for Ruud and 100% for Tsitsipas
Okay so from what I can see, its easy to see why Tsitsipas took the title here. Why? Tsitsipas held on every service game whereas Ruud’s service hold % dropped from 90.3% to 56%…it seems to me Ruud does seem to struggle more mentally in the big moments. Secondly, Ruud only won 37% of 2nd serve points, whereas Tsitsipas’ % increased by about 12% compared to his number throughout the tournament. Finally, both players faced a total of 8 break points on serve each, Tsitsipas saved all 8 break points whereas Ruud saved 4 of them. Okay so my prediction for Tsitsipas in 3 wasn’t quite right but pretty much. The result definitely solidifies clay as Tsitsipas strongest surface. It is a slight shame that Ruud does seem to struggle in big moments, I believe if he could handle the pressure he could be a great clay champion for sure. Anyway let me know what you thought of the final and your Barcelona predictions!