Top seed Novak Djokovic and 2023 Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz could renew their rivalry at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Djokovic and Alcaraz have been drawn in the same half of the draw and are on a collision course for a potential semifinal clash. Djokovic leads 3-2 in their head-to-head series.
Djokovic and defending champion Andrey Rublev lead the pack in the top half of the draw.
Djokovic, who won two titles in Monte-Carlo in 2013 and 2016, will start his campaign against either last year’s Wimbledon quarter finalist Roman Safiulin or a qualifier. Djokovic could face 13th seed Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in the third round. The Italian player upset Djokovic at the same stage of this tournament last year. Djokovic has not advanced beyond the quarter finals in his past seven appearances at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The Serbian players is chasing his first title of the season.
The winner of the first round match between Musetti and Fritz will face either French Next Gen player Arthur Fils or Adrian Mannarino in the second round.
Rublev beat Holger Rune in last year’s final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The world number 6 will play against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the first round. The Russian player could meet this year’s Acapulco champion and Rotterdam finalist Alex De Minaur in the third round. De Minaur will face a first round match against 2014 Monte-Carlo champion Stan Wawrinka.
Rublev is on a collision course for a blockbuster quarter final clash against Djokovic.
Alcaraz has been drawn in the second half. The world number 3 player will face either Felix Auger Aliassime or a qualifier in the second round. The Spanish player beat Jannik Sinner in the semifinal at Indian Wells before winning the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season and reached the quarter final in Miami. Alcaraz will make his second appearance in Monte-Carlo.
Alcaraz could face a tough third round match against Ugo Humbert and a quarter final clash against Casper Ruud in the quarter final. Humbert showed his good form this year by winning two titles in Marseille and Dubai. Ruud reached the final in Acapulco, the quarter final in Indian Wells and the semifinal in Estoril. The Norwegian player could face either Hubert Hurkacz or Jiri Lehecka in the third round. Hukacz will face Jack Draper in the first round.
Jannik Sinner is aiming the fourth title of the 2024 season after winning the first Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, the ATP 500 title in Rotterdam and at the Masters 1000 in Miami. He holds a 22-1 record this season. The only other four players who won the Australian Open and Miami in the same year were Ivan Lendl, André Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Sinner will start his clay campaign against either 2022 Monte-Carlo finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Sebastian Korda in the bottom half. Sinner could face either Alexander Bublik or Borna Coric in the third round and is on a collision course for a potential quarter final match against either last year’s Monte-Carlo finalist Holger Rune or Grigor Dimitrov. Rune beat Sinner in last year’s semifinal at this tournament.
Rune will open his campaign against either Matteo Arnaldi or Emil Ruusuvuori. The Dane will then face a potential third round match against Dimitrov, who beat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter final and Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal before finishing runner-up to Sinner in the Miami Open final. Dimitrov will face Monegasque wild-card Valentin Vacherot in his opening match and could meet 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, who will play against Miomir Kecmanovic. Berrettini reached the semifinal in Marrakesh this week.
Sinner is on a collision course for a potential semifinal clash against either Danil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev. Sinner beat Medvedev in an epic five-set final at the Australian Open and in the Miami Open semifinal.
Medvedev will start his campaign in the second round against either this year’s Los Cabos champion Jordan Thompson of Gael Monfils and could face Zverev in the quarter final. Medvedev won his first clay title in Rome last year and advanced to the semifinals in Monte-Carlo in 2019. Medvedev could face Karen Khachanov in the third round. Khachanov will face Cameron Norrie in a blockbuster first round match.
Zverev will face either Daniel Evans or Sebastian Ofner in the second round. The German player could play in a blockbuster third round match against 12th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won two Monte-Carlo titles in 2021 and 2022 and lost to Taylor Fritz in the quarter final in last year’s edition.
Tsitsipas will meet Laslo Djere in his first round match and Nicolas Jarry in the second round. Jarry reached the quarter final at the Miami Open.
The line-up of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters features all of the top 10 players.
Rafael Nadal, who won 11 times at this tournament, ha pulled out of this year’s edition.
