Eight singles matches will be played at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters today, 14th April. In the first Top 10 match, Andrey Rublev and Jannick Sinner will battle it out on Court Rainier III, while Americans Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda will open on the “Des Princes Court” and team up for doubles later. Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud will be on court before the Rublev vs Sinner match of the evening.
A decisive game
With his first ATP Head2Head victory over Alex de Minaur in his opening match on Wednesday 13th April, Rublev hopes to beat Sinner for the first time. The number five beat the Italian thanks to an early retirement from the championship in Vienna in 2020, and Sinner won in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona tournament a year ago.
Sinner beat Borna Coric and Emil Ruusuvuori to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo tournament. The result was his best result in his two appearances in Monaco. The Italian reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, in Dubai and Miami.
However, his opponent is also making impressive progress on the court. Rublev has in this new season a 19-4 record. The tennis player has won titles in Marseille and Dubai. The 24-year-old also reached the final of the 2021 Monte Carlo tournament, losing to Tsitsipas.
A few steps up
There is a good chance for Zverev to catch up with top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Daniel Medvedev at Monte Carlo. Zverev has added to his ATP Masters 1000 trophies four wins, winning twice in Madrid and once in Rome.
A chance for Carreno-Buste
While the world No.3 played his first match of the season, defeating Federico Delbonis in straight sets, Carreno-Buste needed three sets for opening victories over Sebastian Baez and Alexander Bublik. Bublik of Kazakhstan, who beat Stan Wawrinka in the first round, lost his third set against the Spaniard on Wednesday 13th April.
Successful performances in Monaco brought Carreno-Busta a personal record of 9-5. The tennis player reached the round of 16 three times but never got past that stage. Zverev has an identical 9-5 record in Monaco.
Taylor Fritz versus Sebastian Korda
This ‘American’ match on the Des Princes Court will determine the first-time quarter-finalist of the Monte Carlo tournament: Fritz with a 4-2 record at the Monaco tournament faces the debutant Korda. Both tennis players have made it through to the quarter-finals with a pair of hard-fought victories each.
Korda had one of his best results of the week, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3. Despite the windy conditions in the first round, he also defeated Botik van de Zandschulp.
Fritz, the Indian Wells title holder and the American number one tennis player, defeated Monaco resident Lucas Catarina and Marin Cilic in three sets. The tennis player set his personal best for the first time since 2019.
Today’s meeting will be the first ATP Head2Head match between the compatriots, who will also face Rohan Bopanna and Jamie Murray in the second round of doubles on Court 9.
Busy schedule
Ruud opened on Rainier III against Grigor Dimitrov, then rising star Tsitsipas will face Laszlo Djere.
On the Des Princes Court, Diego Schwartzman will take on Lorenzo Musetti. The NextGenATP Italian defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday for his second Top 10 victory.
Hubert Hurkacz will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the third match of the second round of the Monte Carlo tournament. In doubles, the game will be between Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury against Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar.
The duo of Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos will play on Court 2 against Daniel Evans and Schwartzman. After this match, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will play David Goffin.
