Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters for the second time after defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in Monaco on Sunday.

Despite a brave performance by the Spaniard, who is ranked 41 places lower, the Greek world No. 5 won 6-3 7-6(3) to win his second ATP Masters 1000 title.

Tsitsipas joins Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Muster, Björn Borg, and Ilie Năstase as the only players to successfully defend the Monte-Carlo championship.

The 23-year-old, who was seeded third coming into the competition, defeated rival and second seed Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Saturday to go to the final.

Tsitsipas, who has won eight singles titles in his career, will look to use success in his home country as a springboard to surpass Germany’s global No. 3 status.

Tsitsipas welcomed the chance to win in front of spectators at the first event he had attended as a six-year-old, after playing to empty seats last year because of the epidemic.

Tsitsipas stated on court as he was presented with the trophy, “This has been a wonderful event.”

“I had a chance to win it without a crowd last year, and I can honestly say that I haven’t had a more special event in my career than this one”.

“This place has a special event in my heart.”

The presence of a Greek contingent in the stands, which Tsitsipas singled out in his acceptance speech, sweetened the deal.

“I’d want to thank my compatriots who came to support me with their Greek flags; it made it feel a little bit more like home, so thank you for that,” he said.