Five former champions started this year’s Rolex Monte Carlo Masters but only one has survived into the quarter-finals: the defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. Andrey Rublev crashed out in the third round, following early exits from Fabio Fognini, Stan Wawrinka, and Novak Djokovic in their opening matches.
I want to create way more memories on this court and I want to play better tomorrow against Lorenzo, who is a great clay-court player.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas is very comfortable on the courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club, where he is on track to win his fourth title at The Principality, which would make him the most successful player at the event behind the record-breaking Spaniard Rafa Nadal, who has 11 victories. It also marks Tsitsipas’ 50th clay court Masters win, with 22 of those being in Monaco.
His latest victim was Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who was crushed in 67 minutes, 6-1 6-1, as Tsitsipas dictated proceedings with powerful forehand shots.
“Most games were really close,” Tsitsipas said after his victory over the world No.43. “I felt most of the games were ending at the 40-30 score. There was a lot of action. I don’t think the score reflects the match. We both tried to push each other to the limit. He was maybe unable to take advantage of certain opportunities, and I handled them much better than I expected.”
Seeking his second title of the year, the sixth seed now faces Italian Lorenzo Musetti for a sixth time, a player he has yet to lose to.
“I know I have scored good wins here and played some good tennis,” Tsitsipas added. “I want to come back onto this court and do more and accept the new challenges. I am just trying to take it match by match. I want to create way more memories on this court and I want to play better tomorrow against Lorenzo, who is a great clay-court player.”
Musetti, 23, a bronze medallist at last year’s Paris Olympics, had a relatively comfortable 6-3 6-3 win over countryman Matteo Berrettini, committing just nine unforced errors compared to 44 from Berrettini, who had eliminated top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the previous round.
In contrast, former champion Andrey Rublev ran into an in-form Frenchman, Arthur Fils, who produced an excellent performance to oust the Russian 6-2 6-3. In their second meeting on the Tour, Fils avenged his loss last January in Hong Kong by converting five of nine break points in the one-hour 46-minute contest, setting up a meeting with this year’s title favourite, Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, in the last eight.
Carlos Alcaraz is getting into his stride
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Alcaraz is getting into his stride as he chases his second title of the season with a straight-sets win over German qualifier Daniel Altmaier.
The Spaniard, making only his second appearance at the event, showcased some trademark shots, such as a “tweener” lob that saved the second of five break points in the 11-minute second game of the match.
The German held 10 break points but only converted one in his attempt to quell the Spaniard, who went on to post a 6-3 6-1 victory after one hour and 26 minutes.
“Honestly, it was difficult. Danny is playing great,” Alcaraz pointed out afterward. “He’s a solid clay-court player with a difficult game: a lot of topspin shots and he’s really good physically. The score doesn’t show how difficult it was. I had to battle in the first set.”
“It was good to get a break before the new balls, which helped with the serve. In the second set, I could be myself more and play more aggressively than in the first, and I took my chances.”
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ended Jack Draper’s challenge
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Unfortunately, British hopes of going deeper into the event were dashed by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who overcame fifth-seeded Jack Draper 6-3 6-7(6) 6-4. The Spaniard used his greater clay court experience to good effect, recovering after letting a 3-1 lead in the second set slip and then losing a match point while leading 6-5 in the subsequent tiebreak. He successfully brushed aside those missed opportunities in the decider, which featured five breaks of serve, finally securing his victory after two hours and 46 minutes.
“Today I didn’t feel like I played my best tennis or gave my best mental strategy,” said Davidovich Fokina, who was visibly emotional after his win. “Today was a rollercoaster with my mind. I thought I was playing better, but my mind was telling me otherwise. I didn’t know how to control the emotions today.”
In other action, Australia’s Alexei Popyrin upset last year’s finalist, Norway’s fourth-seeded Casper Ruud, 6-3 3-6 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at a Masters for a third time.
Alex De Minaur’s clay confidence is growing
(Photo by Mateo Villalba/Getty Images)
Popyrin was joined in the last eight by compatriot Alex de Minaur, the eighth seed, who dismissed Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, seeded ninth, 6-2 6-2. This will be De Minaur’s second appearance in the quarter-finals, as he made light of the Russian’s usually efficient retrieval skills, breaking him seven times in eight service games.
“We’ve played each other many times on basically every surface,” said De Minaur. “I tried to draw a lot on our last match at Roland Garros [in 2024] and see what worked for me. I thought I executed really well; I thought I was smart and tactically played the right way today.”
He added: “More than anything, I’m just finding my feet on clay. It’s taken me a while in my career, but I finally understand what I need to do to be effective on this surface. I can be dangerous on this surface, so I’m very happy to play here and start off the clay swing with some good matches. All my energy and effort now goes to tomorrow.”
He will next face experienced Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who ended Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo’s run, winning 6-3 3-6 6-2 after one hour and 52 minutes.
