Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted a controversial line call that went in his favour changed the outcome of his Monte Carlo Masters semi-final against Jannik Sinner.
However, it could have been Sinner who progressed.
With Tsitsipas serving at 3-1 down in the third set and facing a break point, a second serve was called in when replays showed it had gone long.
“It might have had a bigger influence to my opponent than it had on me,” admitted Tsitsipas afterwards.
“I think the match would have turned out completely different if that would have been called out. I will agree that it would have been pretty bad for me if that call was made. There are a lot of weird things on clay that we don’t see on other surfaces. One of them is the line calling and sometimes the marking.”
Sinner did not seem overly annoyed by the call at the time, but admitted afterwards that it lingered and said thinking about it caused him to cramp as Tsitsipas fought back into the match.
“It’s tough, a tough one to swallow, because I was playing at some point great tennis,” he said.
“Everyone can make mistakes unfortunately or fortunately. You know, also I can make mistakes. And it went like this.
“Then after, having cramps, it’s a consequence most likely of what happened because it also goes in the nervous side of the brain and then after, it’s not easy to play. I still tried to do the best I could.
“Stefanos raised the level, but when the momentum changes, it goes like this. This is the fun part of tennis.”
Tsitsipas will be bidding for his third Monte Carlo title when he faces Ruud in Sunday’s final.
The Greek has looked in excellent touch this week and against Sinner finished with seven aces and 27 winners.
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Djokovic v Ruud – Monte Carlo highlights
“It was one of the best first sets I have played on clay,” he said.
“So much consistency and great quality of shot-making. Just pure, clean game from start to finish. I was playing as equally good on the cross as I was playing on the down the line.
“It was a great feeling to be kind of in the zone right from the beginning.”
He is, though, wary of the danger posed by Tsitsipas.
“Stefanos is a fantastic player on all surfaces, but clay, I think he has had more success in his career so far. He won here two times, so obviously he’s feeling comfortable here,” Ruud said.
“The last six, seven, eight months has not been I think perfect for him, and he fell out of the top 10 and a few things… He’s been a steady top 10, top five player for many years already.
“He is always going to be a dangerous player and seems like he’s back in good shape. I’m going to have to expect the best version of Stefanos tomorrow.”
