Two of the top three seeds are still alive in Monte-Carlo, as Alexander Zverev will battle Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals on Saturday. The other matchup is an all-unseeded affair between Grigor Dimitrov and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
(3) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev and Tsitsipas will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers when they meet again in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Saturday afternoon. Tsitsipas leads the head-to-head series 6-3, including 2-0 on clay. Their two previous encounters on the red stuff have come at the 2019 Madrid Masters and at Roland Garros in 2021, with the Greek getting the job done in final sets on both occasions.
Neither player has been on fire this season, but each one is looking good in Monte-Carlo. Tsitsipas did not drop a set against Fabio Fognini and Laslo Djere before outlasting Diego Schwartzman in a 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 quarterfinal roller-coaster. The good news for the third seed is that Zverev is coming off an even longer quarterfinal contest, as the second-seeded German scraped past Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) after three hours and seven minutes. Zverev preceded that result by beating Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets. This rivalry always seems to produce plenty of entertainment, but the surface favors Tsitsipas and another clay-court win for him should be in the cards.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Grigor Dimitrov
The top half of the draw was tougher on paper when this tournament started, but it is the side that ended up producing an all-unseeded semifinal contest. Dimitrov and Davidovich Fokina have produced multiple upsets along the way, the most notable of which was the Spaniard’s shocker of Novak Djokovic in round two. Davidovich Fokina, who defeated the world top-ranked Serb 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, has also ousted Marcos Giron, David Goffin, and Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz.
Dimitrov booked his spot in the last four with victories over Nikoloz Basilashvili (via second-set retirement), Dusan Lajovic (in three sets), Casper Ruud (6-3, 7-5) and Hubert Hurkacz (in a third-set tiebreaker). The only previous meeting between these two semifinalists came last spring in the Rome first round, were Davidovich Fokina prevailed 6-4, 7-6(2). That was part of a great clay-court run for the 22-year-old during which he reached the Monte-Carlo quarters, the Estoril semis, the Rome third round as a qualifier, and the French Open quarters. On this surface, Davidovich Fokina should once again be too good for the Bulgarian.
Pick: Davidovich Fokina in 3
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