15 of the 16 second round singles matches were straight-set affairs, though that will likely change on Thursday. 10 of the world’s top 20 players are in the round of 16, with many of them now facing each other.
Grigor Dimitrov is 1-13 lifetime against Rafael Nadal, but will try to earn his second career victory on his home court. Also on Thursday, the world No.1 takes on the British No.1. And three of the sport’s best young talents take on three of the sport’s toughest outs. In doubles, the top three seeds will all be in action.
Throughout the week, this preview will analyze the most prominent match of the day, and note the other intriguing matchups on the day’s schedule. Thursday’s play will begin at 11:00am local time.
Rafael Nadal (3) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (14) – Third on Court Rainier III
On Wednesday, in his first match in nearly two months, Nadal exhibited no signs of the back injury that caused him to miss several events this season. Rafa routed Federico Delbonis, dropping just three games. As mentioned earlier, he has completely dominated his rivalry with Dimitrov. Nadal leads 13-1, with his only loss coming five years ago on a hard court in Beijing. On clay, Rafa leads 5-0, and 10-1 in sets. This is the third consecutive time they have met in Monte-Carlo, and Nadal comfortably won both of those recent matches by the same score: 6-4, 6-1.
A healthy Rafa would seemingly be a significant problem for Grigor. But Dimitrov has looked sharp thus far this week, winning in straight sets against both Jan-Lennard Struff and Jeremy Chardy. He should certainly feel at home on the courts in Monte-Carlo, where he lives and trains in the offseason. And while clay has easily been his worst surface throughout his career, he’s gone 8-2 since last September. However, all of those wins have come against players ranked outside the top 40. And of course, no one has ever dominated a surface like Nadal has dominated on this one. The King of Clay is a strong favorite to reach his 16th consecutive quarterfinal of the Monte-Carlo Masters, an event where he has never lost before the quarters.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. vs. Dan Evans – This will be their first career meeting. Djokovic easily dispatched of Miami Open finalist Jannik Sinner yesterday. Evans was a miserable 4-13 lifetime on clay prior to this week.
Andrey Rublev (6) vs. Roberto Bautista Agut (9) – The Spaniard leads their head-to-head 3-2, but Rublev won their only match on clay. The Russian is 16-5 on this surface since the start of 2019, while Bautista Agut is only 14-9.
Sascha Zverev (5) vs. David Goffin (11) – They have split four previous encounters. Zverev claimed both clay court matches, though both went the distance.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) vs. Cristian Garin (16) – Their only tour-level clash took place last fall on clay in Hamburg, with Tsitsipas prevailing 6-4 in the third. Garin and Guido Pella defeated Stefanos and his brother Petros on Wednesday in doubles.
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (1) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz – Cabal and Farah won two Majors in 2019, and were champions in Dubai last month. This is Felix and Hubi’s fourth event this year as a team, though they’ve gone only 2-3.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
