Australian Open finalist Arnaud Clement thinks Stefanos Tsitsipas needs to do “some serious soul-searching” after his opening round exit at the 2026 Monte Carlo Masters.

Tsitsipas struggled in a 7-5, 6-4 loss to world No 19 Francisco Cerundolo at the clay-court Masters 1000 tournament on Monday.

The Greek was a champion in Monte Carlo in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and he had not lost before the quarter-finals at the prestigious event since 2019, while he had never previously fallen in the first round.

The 27-year-old holds a 11-8 record in 2026 (9-8 excluding Davis Cup matches) after an underwhelming start to the campaign.

Tsitsipas was ranked eighth a year ago, but after his early exit in Monte Carlo, he has dropped to 64th in the Live ATP Rankings — his lowest position in eight years.

He reached a career-high ranking of world No 3 in August 2021, while he is a two-time Grand Slam runner-up (2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open).

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Speaking on Eurosport France, Clement described Tsitsipas’ performance in Monte Carlo as “quite disappointing and rather disastrous at times.”

“What stands out is Stefanos Tsitsipas’ inability to find his form,” said Clement (translated from French).

“We’ve known he’s been struggling for a long time, and we saw the quality of the match, which was quite disappointing and rather disastrous at times.

“But we were thinking, ‘Isn’t this precisely where he’ll find his form, given how well he’s performed even in difficult moments?’ It’s kind of his court, after all; he’s won three times here.

“But no, it’s difficult for him, and we don’t really know how things will develop in the coming weeks. It’s tough. There’s undoubtedly some serious soul-searching to be done by Stefanos Tsitsipas.”

Clement won four ATP singles titles and reached a career-high ranking of world No 10 during a career spanning from 1996 to 2012.

What next for Tsitsipas?

Tsitsipas is next scheduled to compete at the ATP 500 tournament in Munich, which will be held between April 13 and 19.

The Greek is then due to compete at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, where he was a finalist in 2019.

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