On a rain-affected day four of the 2024 Monte Carlo Masters, Jannik Sinner made a speedy start to his clay court campaign, sweeping aside Seb Korda in just over an hour to bag his twenty-third win of the season.
Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex de Minaur, and Karen Khachanov were other seeds to join Sinner in the last sixteen. With only the two latter being pushed to three sets.
The big casualty of the day was defending champion and sixth seed Andrey Rublev, who crashed out to Alexei Popyrin 4-6 4-6 to continue his disappointing run in recent weeks.
There were also two unfinished matches. Holger Rune and Grigor Dimitrov must complete their matches tomorrow as rain prematurely ended play in the early evening. They lead by one set to love against Sumit Nagal and Miomir Kecmanovic, respectively.
Fortunately, the two are seeded to meet in the last sixteen, making it fair for both players who will take to the court after suitable rest, assuming they both progress.
You can see the complete list of results and highlights below.
Day Four 2024 Monte Carlo Masters Round of 32 Results
| Winner | Loser | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Jannik Sinner (2) | Sebastian Korda | 6-1 6-2 |
| Daniil Medvedev (3) | Gael Monfils (WC) | 6-2 6-4 |
| Alexei Popyrin | Andrey Rublev (6) | 6-4 6-4 |
| Casper Ruud (8) | Alejandro Tabilo | 6-2 6-4 |
| Hubert Hurkacz (10) | Roberto Bautista Agut (Q) | 7-5 7-6(4) |
| Alex de Minaur (11) | Tallon Griekspoor | 2-6 6-2 6-3 |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas (12) | Tomas Martin Etcheverry | 6-1 6-0 |
| Ugo Humbert (14) | Zhizhen Zhang | 6-1 6-4 |
| Karen Khachanov (15) | Francisco Cerundolo | 4-6 6-4 6-3 |
| Lorenzo Sonego (LL) | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 6-4 7-5 |
Popyrin Routs Rublev
Defending champion Andrey Rublev hasn’t had the best last few months on tour. Since his default in Dubai, he’s won just one match across three tournaments, his latest ending with a 4-6 4-6 loss to Alexei Popyrin.
The Aussie is known for his hard-hitting game, and while he indeed produced some pure ball striking on the backhand, his decision to mix up his play caught Rublev out several times.
Dropshots, in particular, proved effective, and he prevented Rublev from establishing much rhythm from the baseline, firing 25 winners en route to victory in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Has the Dubai default rattled Rublev mentally?
I enjoyed coming out on centre court for the first time. This was my first tournament on clay of the year, and I have good memories from last year. I feel comfortable on it and happy to beat a guy who was in form, confident, and the defending champion. It was an awesome match. The idea was not to give him the same ball. He is probably the best player from the baseline when you give him rhythm, so I tried to change the pace, height and spin, and I think it worked well for me today. Popyrin on his impressive win.
Sinner Crushes Korda
Given Sinner’s imperious form on hard courts, I was interested to see if he could transition that form onto the clay. So far, at least, the answer is yes, as he swept aside Seb Korda 6-1, 6-2 in 76 minutes.
Like Djokovic’s win by the same scoreline yesterday, it sends a strong message to the rest of the field that he’s the man to beat on all surfaces.
While the real test will come when he faces more of a pure clay courter, Korda’s sole career title came on this surface, and he was comprehensively outserved and outplayed by the second-seeded Italian.
Sebi and I have similar game styles, so we are not playing like the classic clay-court specialists; we like to play quite flat. But I moved quite well in these conditions. Every year, it is tough to come here and perform well, but I am happy with my performance. Let’s see what is coming in the next round. It is always great to be back here. Sinner on his opening win against Korda.
Medvedev Makes Winning Start
Daniil Medvedev proved he can make headway on la Terre Battue last year when he lifted the Rome Masters title. He made a solid start in Monte Carlo, seeing off Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4.
As I said in my previous post, no matches are rarely straightforward when Monfils is on one side of the net and after dropping the first set in tame fashion, he upped his game to lead 4-1 in the second.
Although he was somewhat helped by a Medvedev meltdown after two disputed line calls and a loss of serve in the third game, which caused a heated exchange with umpire Mohammed Layhani during a changeover.
However, Medvedev is one of the best tacticians on tour, and he was able to calm down, opting to go into lockdown mode, soaking up the Frenchman’s groundstrokes and eventually drawing the error to turn the set in his favourite to progress in 1 hour and 27 minutes.
When you play Gael, he is very good at defence, so sometimes you are scared to attack him because that is what he loves doing. It was a tactical game here and there, but I felt good. I played at good speed, where I could defend well and not give him two easy balls. Medvedev on his match vs Monfils.
Other Matches of Note
- De Minaur Grooves Past Griekspoor: The Aussie looks like a good early bet to make the end-of-season finals, and he overcame Tallon Griekspoor 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
- Sonego Sinks Aliassime: Aliassime must have felt like Christmas came early when Alcaraz withdrew and was replaced by Sonego, but the Canadian failed to take advantage, losing 6-4, 7-5.
- Tsitsipas Erases Etcheverry: 6-1, 6-0 in just 64 minutes to set up a match with Zverev tomorrow. Can the Greek get his season back on track at an event he’s won twice before?
Monte Carlo Masters 2024 Day 5 Round of 32 Matches
- Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Lorenzo Musetti
- Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Jannik Sinner (2)
- Karen Khachanov (15) vs. Daniil Medvedev (4)
- Holger Rune (7) or Sumit Nagal (Q) vs Miomir Kecmanovic or Grigor Dimitrov (9)
- Hubert Hurkacz (10) vs. Casper Ruud (8)
- Lorenzo Sonego (LL) vs. Ugo Humbert (14)
- Alex de Minaur (11) vs. Alexei Popyrin
- Alexander Zverev (5) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (12)
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