The clay-court season is underway, which means the second Grand Slam of 2024 – the French Open – is on the horizon. Before the festivities at Roland Garros take center stage, however, there are three Masters 1000 tournaments on the upcoming schedule. Preceding huge events in Rome and Madrid is next week’s Monte Carlo Masters, where Rafael Nadal is an 11-time champion. With Nadal still injured and presumably nearing the end of his career, Novak Djokovic is an obvious favorite this year in Monte Carlo along with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
- Jannik Sinner to win
- Alexander Zverev to win
- Andrey Rublev to win
Sinner Aiming For 4th Title For 2024
Sinner has been by far the hottest player in tennis dating back to last fall. The 22-year-old Italian is 25-1 in his last 26 matches and 35-2 in his last 37. During this stretch he has won titles in Beijing, Vienna, Melbourne (his first Grand Slam triumph), Rotterdam and Miami. This hot streak also includes a Davis Cup title for Italy and three wins over Djokovic (Davis Cup, Nitto ATP Finals, Australian Open).
Although Sinner may be at his best on hard courts, he is without question an all-court player. Success on clay includes a quarterfinal performance at the 2020 French Open, when he was only 18 years old. Sinner won the Umag title on clay in 2022 and his two most recent appearances in Monte Carlo have resulted in quarterfinal and semifinal showings.
As the No. 2 seed, Sinner will be on the opposite side from Djokovic in the draw and that should set him up nicely for another deep run in MC.
JANNIK SINNER TO WIN THE MONTE CARLO MASTERS
Zverev Resurgence Continues
In 2022, Alexander Zverev beat Alcaraz en route to the French Open semifinals and was in the midst of an extremely competitive match against Nadal before suffering a terrible sprained ankle. The German was forced to retire from that contest and he did not play again the entire season.
Fast forward two years and Zverev is back up to No. 5 in the ATP rankings. The 26-year-old boasts an 18-6 record in 2024 and recently advanced to the semifinals in Miami. He has captured seven clay-court titles in his career, including three at the Masters 1000 level (Madrid twice, Rome once).
Zverev looks poised for a great clay-court swing as he ultimately bids for more French Open success – having reached back-to-back semifinals at the second slam of the season.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV TO WIN THE MONTE CARLO MASTERS
Rublev Looking To Defend Title
Since Nadal’s Monte Carlo reign ended with his 11th title in 2018, the tournament has seen more surprising champions lift the trophy. Fabio Fognini triumphed in 2019, Stefanos Tsitsipas went back-to-back in 2021 and 2022 and Andrey Rublev prevailed last spring.
Having finished runner-up to Tsitsipas in 2021, Rublev has reached the championship match twice in the past three years. That automatically makes the Russian a strong pick at long odds, even if he may not be in his best form at the moment. Rublev lost early in both Indian Wells and Miami, but that means he is well rested for the clay-court swing. Those losses could be a blessing in disguise for his Monte Carlo title defense.
Because the field is generally weaker than that of Madrid and Rome and also because it is one of the first clay-court events of the spring, Monte Carlo is prone to producing somewhat unexpected winners. There is always value on longshots; Rublev may have better value than anyone.
ANDREY RUBLEV TO WIN THE MONTE CARLO MASTERS
