Stefanos Tsitsipas explains goal to break up Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal dominance

Stefanos Tsitsipas has set his sights on breaking up the dominance of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic this season after his Monte Carlo title win, as he aims to reach the world's top two by the end of the year. The Greek is already No 2 in the race to the ATP Finals, which totals points won in 2022 alone, and is bidding to hold onto his place as the season progresses.

Tsitsipas joined an elusive list of six players to successfully defend their Monte Carlo title, and four players to defend their maiden Masters 1000 title on Sunday when he beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 7-6(3) in the final to lift the trophy for a second successive year. It was his first title of the season and has given the 23-year-old the confidence to progress even further in 2022.

Admitting that his title defence had allowed him to re-evaluate his aims for the year, he said: "My goal ever since I have realised that is if I'm able to score points [on] this surface as much as I can and really concentrate on the other surfaces a bit more, I can really pull off a great year, maybe even finishing among the two best tennis players at the end of the season."

Were Tsitsipas to sit in the top two of the rankings by the end of the season, it would mean he would have to overtake one or both of Djokovic and Nadal. He currently sits one place behind the Spaniard in the race to the ATP Finals - the ranking only using points accumulated so far this year - with the pair at No 1 and No 2, putting him on track for a top two finish.

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Looking ahead to later in the season, the world No 5 was also aiming to do well on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where Djokovic is the defending champion.