Two symbols of tennis are back for the season and with them a story full of success is expected. the serbian Novak Djokovic and the Monte Carlo Masters return to activity this April, which means the reactivation of the number 1 player in the world in the current ranking within the first Masters 1000 on clay in 2023, a scenario where he hopes to retain his position as the leader of the sport.
After practically a month of absence at the highest level of competition, Djokovic is back in the ATP Tour after being sidelined from the Indian Wells and Miami Masters due to health restrictions in the United States for not having been vaccinated against covid-19. However, his ranking was not affected and that allows him to be in good spirits.
“In recent years I have gotten used to not playing for long periods. I didn’t play in the United States last year and I didn’t play this year either, but that’s okay, that’s the way it is. I have been able to train more on clay ”, mentioned the Serb towards his participation in the Monte Carlo Masterswhere he has only won two titles in his career, the last in 2015.
Although Nole enters Monte Carlo as the top seed, he is not the favorite according to his own stats. The Serbian has won 38 titles Masters 1000 in his career, but only 5% achieved them in this tournament; The true king of this clay is the Spanish Rafael Nadal with 11 crowns, however, he will be absent from the 2023 edition due to physical problems.
Even so, Djokovic does not rule out fighting until the end and taking this tournament as a platform to reach his great date on the clay tour: Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season; after all, he already won the first one in January, which was the Australian Open.
“I don’t have as much energy as before to play as many tournaments or to be as intensely and permanently involved as the younger players, so I choose the tournaments where I want to play at my best level and build my program around that. Now, the tournaments I am aiming for are the Grand Slams and, as far as the season on clay is concerned, I am aiming for Roland Garros, that is not a secret”, commented the Balkan tennis player.
your way in Monte Carlo he starts in the second round against Russian Ivan Gakhov, who is 10 years his junior. If he overcomes his first draw, he could face the Italian Jannik Sinner or the Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals, while in the semifinals his potential rival is the Russian Daniil Medvdev and the final bet would put him against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas arrives in Monte Carlo as the second best seed and, unlike the United States Masters March, he is also emerging as the main favorite, since he has been champion of the last two editions of the Monaco clay.
“I am enjoying having won this tournament twice. I feel good playing here, I feel good in front of my fans, the Monegasques have shown me their love and support, also the Greek community. It’s my home tournament and I’ve won the event twice. It makes me very happy to have been able to live and experience those moments, I hope to do it again this week ”, declared the Hellenic prior to his debut in the second round against the Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
If he manages to clinch the 2023 title, Tsitsipas will become the third tennis player to win three consecutive Monte Carlo crowns in history, after Rafael Nadalleader by far, winning eight times between 2005 and 2012, and Ilie Nastase, winner between 1971 and 1973.
On his way to the final, he could meet rivals like the Swiss Stan Wawrinka, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the American Taylor Fritz, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, the Russian Andrey Rublev and, in the semifinals, the clash would be against the German Alexander Zverev or the Danish Holger Rune.
The Greek’s strategy is well defined when the clay season begins: “On a surface like clay you don’t expect to hit crazy winners, you play with a lot of patience. It is more about unforced and forced errors, the way to open the track and here the priority is not to win, but to be precise and open the track.”
With Djokovic and Tsitsipas leading the way to the Monte Carlo 2023 title, fans will try to make up for the notable absences from this tournament, which in addition to Nadal, include the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Monte Carlo is the first Masters 1000 of clay of the season, since the one in Madrid will begin on April 24 and the one in Rome on May 8, before reaching the expected appointment with the second Grand Slam of 2023, Roland Garros, to then give way to the cycle on grass.
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