The draw ceremony for the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters was conducted on Friday afternoon. Although the field isn’t as impressive as it would be if not for the recent withdrawals of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, there is still a solid group of top players on hand for the first clay-court Masters 1000 tournament of the season.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is back after being unable to play in either Indian Wells and Miami, and that isn’t the only reason why nobody wants to be in the top half of the bracket. Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner, two of the hottest players on tour right now, are also in the top half. Medvedev, who beat Sinner in the Miami final, doesn’t like clay but has produced at least some success on it in the past. Keep in mind that he also hated the surface in Indian Wells and still came within one win of the title. The Russian certainly can’t be discounted in Monte-Carlo. Sinner, who is fourth in the race to Turin, is dangerous on every single surface and could be a tough quarterfinal opponent for Djokovic.
It’s a bad draw all around for Sinner, as the Italian may have to beat Sebastian Baez before even getting to Djokovic. As for the 35-year-old Serb, his third-round match will likely come against either Lorenzo Musetti or Miomir Kecmanovic.
The bottom half, on the other hand, is completely wide open. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud are the top two seeds there, and neither is in good form. Tsitsipas has been struggling with a shoulder injury and Ruud has endured a massive slump throughout this 2023 campaign. Even No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev isn’t playing particularly well; neither is 14th seed Alex de Minaur or 15th seed Borna Coric. Taylor Fritz is the only man on that side of the draw playing great tennis and he isn’t at his best on clay.
With the door clearly open, don’t be surprised if 2022 runner-up Alejandro Davidovich Fokina takes advantage. Additional unseeded floaters to watch are Jiri Lehecka and Nicolas Jarry; even veterans Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka may have a chance to make a real run.
Marquee first-round matchups at the Monte-Carlo Masters are Musetti vs. Kecmanovic, Baez vs. Jack Draper, Davidovich Fokina vs. Karen Khachanov, Lehecka vs. Frances Tiafoe, Dominic Thiem vs. Richard Gasquet, and Grigor Dimitrov vs. Ben Shelton.
who ya got?
Djoko the favourite, Sinner a great chance though.