It feels like the Sunshine Double just ended…because it did. Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami were not so long ago, but it’s already time for yet another 1000-point event.
This next one is the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, which is the first of three 1000-pointers during the European clay-court swing–to be followed by Madrid and Rome. Monte-Carlo is just a one-week tournament the size is not as big as some other Masters 1000s, but the field is a strong one.
Look no further than the No. 1 seed’s projected road to the the final to see just how stacked this bracket is. The draw ceremony was held on Friday afternoon and it certainly did no favors to Alexander Zverev. Following his first-round bye, the second-ranked German could face Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Novak Djokovic just to reach the title match.
Djokovic is still in search of his 100th ATP title after finishing runner-up in Miami to Jakub Mensik. The 37-year-old Serb will kick off his bid for a third Monte-Carlo triumph against either Alejandro Tabilo or Stan Wawrinka. He could face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round and either Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, Tomas Machac, or Karen Khachanov in the last eight.
The other half features Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Jack Draper, Andrey Rublev, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Arthur Fils, and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Alcaraz did not play particularly well in either Indian Wells or Miami, so he is looking to pick up some momentum in advance of his French Open title defense. Ruud, a two-time French Open runner-up, has also struggled of late.
First-round matches to watch in Monte-Carlo include Medvedev vs. Khachanov, Tiafoe vs. Miomir Kecmanovic, Fils vs. Tallon Griekspoor, Shelton vs. Davidovich Fokina, and Jiri Lehecka vs. Sebastian Korda.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.