Tuesday’s play features the 2023 Monte Carlo debut of top seeds Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
This will be Djokovic’s first match in six weeks, as he missed Indian Wells and Miami due to his vaccination status. He is a two-time champion of this event, as is Tsitsipas, who is vying to win this title for a third straight year.
Both Djokovic and Tsitsipas will be heavy favorites in their matches on Tuesday, so this preview will focus on what should be a much more competitive contest between last year’s runner-up, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and a semifinalist from the two last Majors, Karen Khachanov.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Karen Khachanov (9) – Second on Court des Princes
Khachanov is 13-6 this year, with nine of those wins coming during semifinal runs at big events (Australian Open, Miami). He was an ordinary 9-7 last season on clay, though he did advance into the second week of Roland Garros, something he’s achieved in five of his six appearances at that event. Karen is just 4-5 lifetime in Monte Carlo.
Davidovich Fokina had a losing record last season, with the highlight of his year easily being his run to the final of this tournament, when he upset Novak Djokovic as well as Taylor Fritz. He’s 12-9 in 2023, and reached the quarterfinals in his only other appearance at this event two years ago. Monte Carlo has easily been Alejandro’s best Masters 1000 tournament to date.
Davidovich Fokina is 2-0 against Khachanov, having taken both of those hard court encounters in three sets. They occurred at two other Masters events: Bercy in 2020, and Indian Wells just last month. At this event, where Alejandro has been so successful, the Spaniard should be favored to make it 3-0 against Khachanov on Tuesday.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Andrey Rublev (5) vs. Jaume Munar – Rublev was a finalist here two years ago, losing to Tsitsipas in the championship match. As per Tennis Abstract, 49 of Munar’s 68 career tour-level wins have come on clay. They have split two previous meetings on hard courts.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Ivan Gakhov (Q) – Djokovic is 15-1 in 2023, having lost his most recent match to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of Dubai. Gakhov is a 26-year-old qualifier who won a Challenger title on clay just two weeks ago, and took out Mackenzie McDonald on Monday.
Benjamin Bonzi vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (2) – Tsitsipas is 12-4 this season, but the two-time defending champion is on a 10-match winning streak in Monte Carlo. Bonzi has reached two ATP finals this season (Pune, Marseille), but is 0-2 against Stefanos, with both matches occurring last June on grass.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.