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Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Jannik Sinner in the Monte-Carlo Masters semifinal 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, handing the Italian just his second loss of the season.
The match, however, was now without drama. It was one particular line call, however, that caught the attention of many. The incident unfolded in the third set, with Tsitsipas facing a breakpoint while serving down 3-1*.
The Greek was able to wiggle out of the game despite hitting a double fault on breakpoint (confirmed later by Hawkeye) after the on-court officials failed to make the right call on the second serve. He would go on to win four of the next five games to seal the match. Had the double-fault counted, Sinner would have led 4-1 in the final set.
Addressing the missed call during his post-match press conference, Tsitsipas conceded that he got lucky as going down a double break would have been really bad for him at that point.
"It might have had bigger influence to my opponent than it had on me," Stefanos Tsitsipas said. "I was dealing with a break down at that moment."
"Of course double break down wouldn't make things easier for me and just holding serve there was crucial," he added.
The Greek said the match would have turned out “completely different” had the line judge or the chair umpire rightly called his serve out.
"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," the Greek said.
"There are a lot of weird things on clay" - Stefanos Tsitsipas on line calls after Jannik Sinner controversy
Stefanos Tsitsipas went on to talk about the peculiarities of playing on clay, noting that most tournaments played on surface do not use electronic line-calling and instead rely on discernable ball marks left on the court to settle contentious points.
"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," Stefanos Tsitsipas said.
The Greek, however, was quick to note that as someone who plays on the surface a lot, he has gotten fairly used to the system and makes it a point to check the ball mark himself in case of a close call.
"As someone that has played a lot on clay, I try and make the calls myself," the Greek said. "I don't rely too much on line umpires to do their job. Always, whenever I hit a ball that's close to the baseline or the sideline that I think might be out, I hit it and I just have a quick look before I continue the point."
"So I have learned this way. That's why I don't get in conversations or arguments with umpires, because I understand mistakes can happen. I try to rely entirely upon myself. That's how I grew up doing," he added.
Tsitsipas will take on Casper Ruud in the final of Monte-Carlo Masters. The Norwegian reached the summit clash after defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the semifinals.
