The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is one of nine ATP 1000 events on the tennis calendar. Taking place at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in Monaco, the 56-player tournament began on Monday with all of the top-ranked players in the world and we’re now into the quarter-finals on Friday, with one player – Stefanos Tsitsipas – already booking a spot in the semi-finals. He’ll play the winner of Jannik Sinner vs. Holger Rune. The other two quarter-finals featured four of the top-14 players in the world.
The quarter-finals, meanwhile, didn’t feature a single player outside of the top-15 seeds, so there have been few upsets thus far in Monaco. Let’s take a look back at the early action and look ahead to the finals on Sunday.
A Recap of This Week’s Action
The most notable absence from the quarter-finals in Monaco is Carlos Alcaraz. The two-time grand slam winner withdrew from the tournament before his second-round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime due to a foot injury that has been plaguing him for the last couple of weeks. Fourth and fifth seeds Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev lost in the third round and sixth seed Andrey Rublev lost his second-round match.
Top-10 seeds Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz also lost in the third round. Casper Ruud, a clay court specialist and the eighth seed, beat Hurkacz in straight sets, while Rune beat Dimitrov in a wild 7-6 (9), 3-6, 7-6 (2) match.
Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, takes on 11th seed Alex de Minaur on Friday in the quarter-finals. Djokovic earned straight set wins over Roman Safiullin and Lorenzo musetti to start the tournament, while de Minaur beat Stan Wawrinka, Tallon Griekspoor, and Alexei Popyrin.
Semi-Final Previews
Djokovic vs. De Minaur
This match is already ongoing in Monaco, but we have to assume Djokovic will march forward and reach the semi-finals. He’s attempting to become the first player to win the career triple masters, meaning he would have won all nine masters tournaments three times each. Interestingly, he has only played de Minaur twice and is 1-1 in those matches.
Casper Ruud (-300) vs. Ugo Humbert (+250)
Ugo Humbert is having a breakthrough season and is currently ranked No. 15 in the world, one lower than his career-best ranking of 14. He’s also 3-1 in four career matches against Ruud, although Ruud has the win in their lone match on clay court back in 2020. Ruud should win this one as he is a better clay court player (26-9 since the start of the season) and has been on court for almost four hours fewer than Humbert.
Final Prediction
Assuming a Djokovic-Ruud semi-final, it might make sense to take Ruud in best bets for that match. Djokovic has not been playing his best tennis the season, perhaps showing signs of his age, while Ruud has been consistent all year without breaking through for a title – this could be his week.
Sinner, assuming a victory over Rune, should beat Tsitsipas in the other semi-final. He has lost just once this season and is having one of the most impressive seasons in recent memory.
Final Pick: Ruud def. Sinner
