A blockbuster third-round matchup at the Monte-Carlo Masters pits a red-hot Jannik Sinner against Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(10) Hubert Hurkacz vs. (7) Jannik Sinner
Hurkacz did not have the befit of a first-round bye at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters like Sinner did, and it almost cost the Pole right away. He needed three tiebreak sets to outlast Laslo Djere 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) after three hours and 19 minutes. Hurkacz also endured a tough test in round two, scraping past Jack Draper 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 in two hours and 29 minutes.
Up next for No. 10 seed on Thursday is an extremely confident Sinner, who followed up his bye with a 38-minute effort against Diego Schwartzman (the Argentine retired due to a shoulder problem while trailing 6-0, 3-1). The eighth-ranked Italian is 22-5 this year with a title in Montpellier and runner-up performances in Rotterdam and Miami. Hurkacz leads the head-to-head series 2-1, but they have never faced each other on clay–advantage: Sinner–and Sinner is in far superior form right now.
Pick: Sinner in 2
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (16) Lorenzo Musetti
Djokovic and Musetti will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers on Thursday. Only their first encounter was competitive; Musetti took a surprising two-set lead at the 2021 French Open before Djokovic seized control and then got a retirement from the Italian at 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0. The current world No. 1 then cruised 6-3, 6-3 last year in Dubai and 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.
On the bright side for Musetti, he is back on his preferred clay-court surface and basically playing at home in Monte-Carlo in front of a pro-Italian crowd. The 21-year-old has won three bagel sets in a row, too, beating Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(1), 6-0 and Luca Nardi 6-0, 6-0. Still, he has been hopeless in his last seven sets against Djokovic and the top seed should improve from his opening win on Tuesday (7-6(5), 6-2 over Ivan Gakhov) now that he has a match under his belt following an extended absence.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
who ya got?
Sinner & Novak, both in 2
(Poor Lorenzo)
Sinner under
Major problem for Nole is weather and particularly wind, Nole struggles big time on windy days (that was his problem against Russian in the first set) and it appears it’ll be windy, cloudy, possibly rain interruption and cold. MC is notorious for a wind, much like USO, because of the opening towards the sea.
Musseti has much more chances that you people are giving him, wouldn’t be surprised at all if he scores his first win vs Nole.
Yep, doesnt look good.
Keep posting under that alias (or keep allowing it) and I will let the whole ATP tour know what youre really like.
Have a nice day.
Do you have problem with my nick, if so, elaborate why, please?
I might be able to enlighten you about meaning of it where I live.
PS
I wear my Wog badge with pride.
Raj don’t get me wrong I’ve had my differences with Wogboy, I once many years ago asked what the reason was behind the nickname, and he explained and showed me the exact same you tube videos that he showed you, it’s not meant in a derogatory way
For the ones that actually care, that is. Im fairly confident most dont know and dont care.
Care about what?
Keep doing it and you will find out.
Doing what?
your choice. everything in life comes with consequences.
https://youtu.be/mHmjP6GN4Lc
I think it’s self explanatory.
Raj,
this one is for you, this one is Superwog, I am not there yet but getting there slowly, enjoy it:
https://youtu.be/AXoSzR8Fn_s
Novak is falling apart! Think he may lose.
The Monte Carlo crowd are as bad as the French!
Novak was booed remorseless ly for questioning a call which he said was way out. Hawkeye showed afterwards he was right!
The aggression from the crowd was really absurd and exactly the way the RG crowd behaves.
They really need to have Hawkeye on clay and grass. They endlessly get calls wrong.
So Novak lost! Thought he would. I tuned in just as Musetti was serving for the match. Novak was playing poorly.
Dunno why he has this mental block about Monte Carlo.