The Canadian Happy Auger-Also (world number 36) or a player from the previous one will be Carlos Alcaraz’s first rival in the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000 in a race whose goal will be in the final of Roland Garros next June 9 with number 1 at stake.
A career in which Novak Djokovic, who could meet in a hypothetical semifinals of the tournament, starts in pole position with 9,725 points ahead of Jannick Sinner, at 1,015 points, and the Murcian tennis player, at 1,280 points. Of the three, the Italian is in the best position to place first for the first time and end the overwhelming dominance of the current world number 1 who has an absolute record of 419 weeks at the top of the list.
Sinner Dominator
Monte Carlo will be the filming to fine-tune the ground performance of Djokovic, Sinner y Alcaraz after a first part of the season, played on hard courts, in which the Italian has dominated, winning his first Grand Slam in Australia and winning two more titles in Rotterdam and the Miami Masters 1,000. In total, 22 victories in one Sinner’s unstoppable streak since the beginning of the year that could only cut Alcaraz, which inflicted his only defeat in the Indian Wells semifinals (1-6, 6-3, 6-2).
The 1,000 points for the title that are at stake on the red carpet of Monte Carlo are an almost obligatory prize for Alcaraz if you want to keep your pulse with Djokovic y Sinner and start subtracting the 2,270 earned on the tour last year for his wins in Barcelona and Madrid. Djokovic, champion at Roland Garros, defends 2,350 while Sinner only defends 635 until Paris.
The draw for the painting held this Friday at the Anthropological Museum of Monte Carlo placed Alcaraz in the upper part, where it would be crossed in some hypothetical semifinals with Djokovic or with Andrey Rublev, current champion. Before that possibility, Alcaraz could cross in addition to Auger-Also in his debut in the second round, later with the French Ugo Humbert (3rd round), the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (octaves) or Norwegian Casper Ruud (in quarters) as more prominent rival theorists. In the lower part of the painting, Sinner will debut against the winner of the match that will face the Spaniard in the first round Alexander Davidovich and the American Sebastian Korda.
Nadal’s ordeal
In addition to the incentive of the clay careers of Djokovic, Sinner and Alcaraz, Monte Carlo had the incentive of Rafael Nadal’s return to action but, finally, he has had to rule out his presence on a stage where he has won 11 times (2005 to 2012 and 2016 to 2018).
“My body won’t let me,” said the Mallorcan this Thursday to announce his withdrawal, without specifying the injury that forced him to give up an appointment marked in red in the face of his great goal which, since he had hip surgery last month of June, aims to Roland Garros and the Olympic Games this summer in Paris.
“We will see the best version of Rafa in spring, around March or April,” his friend and coach said optimistically. Carlos Moya last January, but spring has arrived and the ordeal continues. Since Nadal won the Musketeers Cup for the 14th time at Roland Garros on June 5, 2022, almost two years ago, the Mallorcan has only been able to play 20 games, with 12 wins and eight losses, the worst balance of his career. . “I have no choice but to accept the situation, try to look towards the immediate future while maintaining the hope and the desire to try to give myself the opportunity,” said the tennis player after retiring from Monte Carlo.
“You either go to Roland Garros one hundred percent, or it’s better not to participate.”
But Nadal said Not even those around them have yet thrown in the towel. Toni Nadal He admitted that his nephew “has not yet recovered from his physical discomfort, especially when serving because otherwise he does not have any problems when he trains,” said the uncle and former coach on Thursday at the International Sports Forum in Segovia.
With just two months to go before Roland Garros (starts on May 26), the Mallorcan coach was confident that Nadal “I can play a previous tournament [Barcelona, Madrid o Roma] to be able to have a good Roland Garros”, emphasizing that “To Roland Garros you either go 100% or it is better not to participate”.
2024-04-05 18:58:40
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