Can Stefanos Tsitsipas win a big title somewhere else this spring?

“Back in the game!”

That’s what one amped-up member of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ team yelled as he hugged the Greek after his 6-1, 6-4 win over Casper Ruud on Sunday. It would be hard to find a better four-word summation of Tsitsipas’s rejuvenating week in Monte Carlo.

Winning this event has been a dream of his ever since he saw his mother Julia’s name on a list of past champions there. Tsitsipas has now followed her lead three times, in 2021, 2022 and 2024. According to him, the third one means the most. With it, he put an end to a nine-month title drought, and to the doubts about his future that came with it.

“It’s been very difficult to be back on the podiums, winning tournaments, just feels amazing,” a relieved and tearful Tsitsipas said. “The Holy Trinity is even more special than the first or second time.”

You can tell the old, grandiose Stef is back when he calls his three titles in Monte Carlo the “Holy Trinity,” can’t you?

If he can use the term Holy Trinity, can we call this week his resurrection? It began on Wednesday, when he was exiled from the stadium court in favor of the ATP player of the moment, Jannik Sinner. Even as Tsitsipas heard the roars for Sinner in the big arena, he was finding his game against Tomas Etcheverry. After a 6-1, 6-0 win, Tsitsipas said he felt “unstoppable.” That was a big word for a guy who hadn’t done much lately, but it turned out to be true.

Next came a win over No. 5 seed Alexander Zverev, another over Karen Khachanov, and then a comeback victory over Sinner himself. In their semifinal, the Italian got a bad call, cramped, and gave back a third-set lead, but Tsitsipas didn’t care. After the last point, he dropped to his knees as if he had just won Wimbledon. Later, he focused on the positives.

“It was one of the best first sets I’ve played on clay,” Tsitsipas said. “Just pure, clean game from start to finish.”

Against Ruud on Sunday, Tsitsipas started out the same way. Early on, he took an easy overhead and put a little extra juice on it. When the ball crashed into the back tarp, it sounded like a signal that he was going to bring everything he had, and something extra, for this final.

Tsitsipas kept his level high level through the first set, and encountered little resistance from Ruud, who would fall to 0-3 in finals in 2024. The second set was tighter. Ruud found his forehand, while Tsitsipas began to shank his and show some signs of tension.

But he had a Plan B: Serve and volley. The tighter the match became, the more Tsitsipas charged in behind his serve—especially his second delivery. It was a surprising play on clay, but he ended up 21 of 29 at net, and he kept the points short at a moment when he appeared to be getting nervous at the baseline. Tsitsipas saved all eight break points he faced; on the last one, at 3-3 in the second set, he flew in behind a second serve and knocked off a forehand volley winner. Ruud’s best chance had passed him by.

“I did need this week a lot, especially the rough months that I’ve been through the last half of 2023 until now,” Tsitsipas said.

“It’s definitely a sign that I’m there and the consistency is showing, and definitely I’m capable of big things.”

By “big things,” Tsitsipas is obviously looking toward Barcelona, Madrid, Rome—and especially Paris, where he was one slender set from a Grand Slam title in 2021. Despite his love for clay, though, he has yet to win a title at any of the other clay Masters events, or at Roland Garros. Can he change that in 2024?

With his win over Sinner this week; with Novak Djokovic’s ups and downs this season; and with Carlos Alcaraz’s recent arm injury, Tsitsipas is in the conversation again.

Monte Carlo put him back in the game. Now it’s up to him to show he can win it.