The singles quarterfinals on Friday feature six of the top eight seeds.
But they do not include World No.1 Novak Djokovic, who was upset on Thursday by Lorenzo Musetti. On Friday, Musetti faces fellow Italian Jannik Sinner. The winner will advance to face either Daniil Medvedev or Holger Rune, who will meet for the first time in the quarterfinals.
The other half of the draw sees two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas take on American No.1 Taylor Fritz, while Andrey Rublev battles Jan-Lennard Struff.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Taylor Fritz (8) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (2) – Second on Court Rainier III
Tsitsipas is now 14-4 on the year, and on a 12-match win streak in Monte Carlo. He comfortably overcame Nicolas Jarry in straight sets on Thursday.
Fritz is 22-6 in 2023, and was victorious over Jiri Lehecka on Thursday in three sets. This is Taylor’s second consecutive quarterfinal in Monte Carlo, but he’s now 0-4 in his last four appearances in the quarters of a Masters 1000 event.
The Greek is 3-0 against the American, which all three matches taking place on hard courts, the surface where Fritz is most comfortable. They include a three-set win at the 2019 Laver Cup, a straight set win later that same year in Bercy, and a five-set win at last year’s Australian Open, when Stefanos recovered from a two-sets-to-one deficit.
On this surface, and at an event where Tsitsipas has realized so much success, he is a considerable favorite over Fritz in the quarterfinals.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Andrey Rublev (5) vs. Jan-Lennard Struff (Q) – Rublev ousted Karen Khachanov in straight sets on Thursday, while Struff upset fourth-seeded Casper Ruud. They have split four previous tour-level meetings, the last two of which occurred on clay. Most notably, two years ago at Roland Garros, Struff eliminated Rublev in the first round after a five-set battle.
Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Holger Rune (6) – Medvedev survived a marathon match on Thursday night, defeating Sascha Zverev in a third-set tiebreak after three hours of play as the clock approached midnight, and after saving two match points By contrast, Rune didn’t play at all on Thursday, as he received a third round walkover from an injured Matteo Berrettini.
Lorenzo Musetti (16) vs. Jannik Sinner (7) – How will Musetti emotionally and physically recover after his draining three-set win over Djokovic on Thursday? Sinner also played a dramatic third round match, saving match point to come back and defeat Hubert Hurkacz. Jannik claimed their only previous meeting, two years ago on an indoor hard court in Antwerp.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
