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By Ricky Dimon
The clay-court swing gained’t waste any time shifting into excessive gear. Following tournaments in Houston and Marrakech to start the filth swing, one other Masters 1000 occasion might be held subsequent week in Monte-Carlo. It’s the first of three Masters 1000s on clay, and in the event you embrace Indian Wells and Miami we’re within the midst of a stretch with 5 Masters 1000 tournaments in a span of lower than three months.
Clearly it’s among the finest occasions of the 12 months in tennis–particularly in the event you’re somebody like Rafael Nadal.
Sadly for Nadal, he’ll miss at the very least each Monte-Carlo and Barcelona within the early phases of his regular clay-court schedule. The 21-time Grand Slam champion gained his first 20 matches in 2022–together with the Australian Open title–however he sustained a rib harm in Indian Wells (completed runner-up to Taylor Fritz) and skipped Miami.
With Nadal sidelined, the door might be open for any variety of rivals on the Monte-Carlo Masters. In fact, a distinct Spaniard may shut it. Carlos Alcaraz, 17 years Nadal’s junior, reached the Indian Wells semifinals (misplaced to Nadal in three units) after which gained the Miami Open. He’s already as much as No. 11 on the earth. Nearly as good as Alcaraz is on exhausting courts, his already well-documented clay-court prowess was additional confirmed when he lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro two months in the past.
Alcaraz might be one of many prime favorites in Monte-Carlo together with Novak Djokovic, who is ready for simply his second event of the season. The highest-ranked Serb was compelled out of the Australian Open as a result of he’s unvaccinated and he was unable to enter the USA and due to this fact needed to withdraw from Indian Wells and Miami. There aren’t any such vaccination necessities in Monte-Carlo, so Djokovic is sweet to go and would be the No. 1 seed. The 34-year-old is a two-time champion within the principality (2013, 2015).
Because the entry listing stands proper now, Djokovic might be adopted within the seedings by Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, and Andrey Rublev. Together with Nadal, Daniil Medvedev is a notable absentee due to a hernia.
Two of the 4 wild playing cards have been handed out–to Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Wawrinka has not performed an ATP-level match since March of 2021. The 36-year-old Swiss was the Monte-Carlo champion in 2014. Tsonga, a two-time Monte-Carlo semifinalist (2013, 2016), started his comeback from harm earlier this 12 months with 4 tournaments in France (two Challengers) plus the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. The 36-year-old Frenchman has gained three matches in whole (two on the primary tour) and he’s coming off a three-set loss to Jordan Thompson in Miami.
Predominant-draw competitors in Monte-Carlo begins on Sunday. Tsitsipas is the defending champion, having defeated Rublev within the championship match final spring.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and likewise maintains his personal tennis web site, The Grandstand. You may comply with him on twitter at @Dimonator.
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