Monte-Carlo Masters 2025: The Return of the Big Fish after a Week off
The 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters kick-starts with its first round action on Sunday and we delve deep into the chances of some of the top men taking part in this competition this time.
Get all the WTA & ATP tennis match previews & predictions here.
Over the last four years, Stefanos Tsitsipas has been the most dominant player at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The Greek won the titles in 2021, 2022 and 2024. The only time he failed was in 2023, when he was knocked out in the quarterfinals. Andrey Rublev went on to win the title that year.
Tsitsipas Aims to Continue Dominance
This year, Tsitsipas returns to his favorite Masters tournament as the sixth seed. He has never won an ATP 1000 tournament outside of Monte Carlo and will look to continue his dominance this year as he aims for his fourth Masters title.
It has been a mixed year so far for Tsitsipas, who claimed the Dubai title, but has struggled to make too many deep runs.
In Monte Carlo, the defending champion is likely to face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the second round, but things will get tough from there on as 10th seed and 2023 runner-up Holger Rune could be a third-round opponent, while top seed Alexander Zverev is on collision course to meet Tsitsipas in the quarterfinal.
Zverev Brings Dodgy Form into the Tournament
Zverev has been out of form ever since his runner-up finish at the Australian Open. It will be interesting to see how far he can go. The German is likely to face Matteo Berrettini in the second round and could face a dangerous clay court player in 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.
Musetti also enjoys a 2-1 head-to-head lead against Zverev, having won both their matches last year. It will be an interesting contest as Zverev, too, has a strong record on clay and will be eager to start well on red dirt.
Zverev, who has made the semifinals twice in his previous eight attempts at the Monte-Carlo Open, is likely to fall in the last eight stage to Tsitsipas, whose recent record here makes him our favorite to make the semis from the top section of the top half.
A point to be noted here is that Zverev is among those few top players who featured in the South American clay court swing and fell early at both, the Argentina Open and Rio Open.
Djokovic Could Go Deep
Who could Tsitsipas meet in the semis? Our pick is third seed Novak Djokovic.
A two-time champion, Djokovic was a semifinalist here last year. Although the former no. 1 suffered a bit of a dip following his Australian Open semifinal defeat this year, but he was back in form in Miami, winning five straight matches without dropping a set, but he was denied the title by teen sensation Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic.
Djokovic, who has a first-round bye, could face Stan Wawrinka for the 28th time in his career in his opener. Wawrinka faces the out-of-form Alejandro Tabilo in the first round.
The Serb holds a 21-6 career record against the former no. 3 but has a 0-2 record in Grand Slam finals against Wawrinka.
But given the form of the two players, we expect Djokovic to make the third round in Monte-Carlo, where he could possibly meet Grigor Dimitrov, a player against whom Djokovic has a 13-1 career record.
Get all the WTA & ATP tennis match previews & predictions here.
Unseeded Baez Could Be a Surprise Package
Who could possibly meet Djokovic in the quarterfinals is going to be an interesting pick. Eighth seed Alex de Minaur is a prime contender with ninth seed Daniil Medvedev also in the mix. But our choice is the unseeded Sebastian Baez.
Although the Argentinian has never won a match in Monte-Carlo in his previous three tries, he is in terrific form at the moment and given his strong liking for clay he will be a player to watch in the earlier rounds.
Baez, who won the Rio Open and finished runner-up in Santiago, made it to the Bucharest Open final at the time of writing this piece.
We expect him to top the dangerous Tomas Machac in the first round and then upset De Minaur in the second round, before taking down either Medvedev or Alexandre Muller in a possible third round.
Baez’s run eventually may end in the quarterfinals against Djokovic.
Alcaraz Leads Charge in the Bottom Half
In the bottom half, second seed Carlos Alcaraz will lead charge. The Spaniard, world no. 3, was knocked out in the second round in his only appearance in the tournament in 2022.
Although he is 15-4 this season, the 21-year-old won’t be too happy with his performance, which includes just one title in Rotterdam.
Alcaraz made it to the semis in Indian Wells, only to fall to Jack Draper, while he failed to go beyond the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the Doha International.
His worst came in Miami, where he suffered a loss in his opening match against David Goffin.
With two back-to-back wins behind him, there would be some pressure on Alcaraz, but we expect him to arrest the slide in Monte Carlo. He could face Francisco Cerundolo in the second round with either Matteo Arnaldi or Felix Auger-Aliassime being a possible third round opponent.
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev will most likely be a quarterfinal opponent. We expect Alcaraz to make the semis from that group.
When it’s Clay, Who Can Forget Ruud!
Fourth seed and last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud is seeded to meet Alcaraz in the semis and that might go as per script.
The red-hot Jack Draper, who is 13-3 this season, is in the same section as Ruud, but given the Briton’s struggles on clay and Ruud’s ability to elevate his game on the surface, we think the Norwegian has the best chances of making it to the final four stage.
Ruud, who has blown hot and cold this season, is likely to begin his campaign against Brandon Nakashima.
The 14th seed Frances Tiafoe is expected to be Ruud’s third-round opponent, while fifth seed Jack Draper is seeded to meet Ruud in the quarterfinals. However, we think Draper may not reach that far as clay isn’t his forte.
Instead we are backing either the 11th seed Ben Shelton or the 2022 finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach the last eight from that section.
Although Fokina struggled on clay last season, he has shown great form overall this year, reaching back-to-back finals in Delray Beach and Acapulco. He also has a decent overall record on clay and if he manages to upset Shelton in the first round, he could make the quarterfinals.
Monte-Carlo Masters Predictions
Possible Quarterfinal Line-up
Zverev v Tsitsipas
Djokovic v Baez
Ruud v Shelton / Davidovich Fokina
Alcaraz v Rublev
Possible Semifinal Line-up
Tsitsipas v Djokovic
Alcaraz v Ruud
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