The Brazilian player Thiago Monteiro was the protagonist on Saturday of the most important undertaking of theAtp Madrid Masters 1000 eliminating Stefanos Tsitsipaswinner of the Monte Carlo tournament and finalist in Barcelona last week.
Monteiro he reached the third round of a tournament of this level for the first time at the age of 29. “It’s never too late,” he said Monteiro at the press conference -. I see guys like Jan-Lennard Struff who at 34 years old won his first ATP title last week in Monaco and Adrian Mannarino that a 35 years old, last year he experienced his best tennis season.
Tennis is like that. One week can change the whole year, all the plans you have. You just have to keep working hard and take opportunities.”
Thiago Monteiro: “I can play at a high level against the big boys”
“You have to keep going believe it always – continued Monteiro – you have to continue working and you know that one day this will pay off for you.
This week was a little different than previous weeks. We have a great opportunity every week, a new opportunity. I did two good games in the qualifiers and an excellent first round.
I knew I had a big challenge ahead of me top players, but I felt good. I was just trying to have fun and I believed in my game. In the match against Tsitsipas it worked really well and it gives me a lot of confidence knowing that on a good day I can play ad high level against these great champions.
I just want to use this victory to move forward with confidence in the tournament and try to improve.” Monteiro now he will play in the third round against the Czech player Lehecka. In case of further success he could play against Rafael Nadal who has a third round against the Argentine Pedro Cachin.
