After missing the Indian Wells and Miami Open ATP Masters 1000s due to entry rules in the United States, Novak Djokovic is ready to return to the court. The Serbian, who regained the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz, will lead seeding in Monte-Carlo.
The Serbian champion hasn’t done very well in recent seasons on Monaco clay-courts. Suffice it to think that in 2019 he made it to the quarterfinals for the last time.
Novak Djokovic’s possible path to Monte-Carlo
The main draw of the third 1000 of 2023 was drawn and Djokovic, who will take advantage of the bye in the first round, will make his debut against one between Brandon Nakashima and Mackenzie McDonald.
The first seed in Djokovic’s path could be Lorenzo Musetti. However, the blue will first have to beat the competition from Miomir Kecmanovic, who reached the semifinals at the ATP 250 tournament in Estoril. The main suspect for reaching the quarter-finals in the same portion of the draw is another blue tennis player: it is Jannik Sinner, seeded number seven.
The Italian was not particularly lucky and should meet Diego Schwartzman and Hubert Hurkacz on his way. Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Cameron Norrie and Alexander Zverev were then placed in the upper part of the main draw.
The Russian and the Danish, in particular, are the favorites to win the semifinals. Lorenzo Sonego, who received a precious wild, would challenge the Russian tennis player in the event that he surpasses one of the players from the first round qualifiers.
Djokovic, in 2022, was eliminated on his debut in Monte-Carlo by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. However, the Serbian experienced a complicated start to the season last year after the case that broke out in Australia and which forced him to miss the Australian Open.
A precarious physical shape accompanied his journey in the Principality. The Serbian world number one of the ATP ranking will therefore be further motivated and will try to redeem the last negative performance. We recall Novak Djokovic won two edition of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, in 2013 against Rafael Nadal,a nd in 2015 against Tomas Berdych.
