The land arrives, the third Masters 1,000 of the season arrives and Novak Djokovic arrives. The Serbian tennis player, after his participation in the ATP 500 in Dubai, where he lost a number one that he has in possession again, will play its first major tournament of the year in Monacowhere he triumphed in 2013 and 2015. “I need match rhythm. I haven’t had many games in recent months. We’ll see what happens. When I have the opportunity to play, I will,” he declared after losing in the United Arab Emirates. His time has come and, furthermore, with the responsibility of resuming the defense from the top of the world ranking. Now onto the tracks.
Monte Carlo, first stop. A very demanding one. Daniil Medvedev, Matteo Berrettini and Rafa Nadal will not be there, but the rest of the Top 10 will. The three of them make up the group of the main absences. The Russian tennis player (2nd in the world), as he himself communicated, will be “one or two months” away from competition after undergoing a hernia operation; Berretini (6th), for his part, will not be in Monte Carlo, but neither will he be in Madrid or Rome after undergoing surgery due to his right hand; Nadal, finally, continues to recover from his cracked ribs, coming from Indian Wells.
Three big casualties, but many applicants still standing. Djokovic, without going any further, could cross paths with Carlos Alcaraz (11th) in the quarterfinals. The prodigy from El Palmar, after his incredible triumph in Miami, is seeded eighth in the tournament. They will be two of the big names, two of the players who will try to dethrone the current champion, Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th). The Greek, who acts as the third favorite, has Nole himself ahead of him already Alexander Zverev (2nd). By entity and state of form, surely, the four tennis players who start in the lead, but with a wide string of opponents showing up: Casper Ruud (7th), Andrey Rublev (8th), Felix Auger-Aliassime (9th), Cameron Norrie (10th), Jannik Sinner (12th), Taylor Fritz (13th) or Hubert Hurkacz (14th) they will also be in Monaco.