Jannik Sinner found his serve and forehand just when he needed them, and beat Carlos Alcaraz—and the wind—in a tactical tug of war

Plus, Stefanos Tsitsipas looks to continue his mysterious mastery of Monte Carlo, and more storylines we're following at the historic clay-court event.

BySteve Tignor

Published Apr 04, 2025

Monte Carlo Master: Stefanos Tsitsipas wins title in Monaco for third time in four years

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Tennis makes a series of returns this week: To Europe, to red clay, and back into the Grand Slam vortex. Unlike the events in February and March, all of the tournaments from here until the middle of September are either majors—Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open—or events that lead into those majors, and that are played on the same surfaces. In other words, from now on, a match isn’t just a match—it also comes with implications for the Slams ahead. After a couple of months of results for their own sake, it will be nice to have those implications to talk about again.

The men enter the vortex in a suitably dramatic location: At the Monte Carlo Country Club, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and has been hosting the tournament since 1896. The city is also home to a big chunk of the ATP’s European brigade, which means that even though it isn’t technically a mandatory Masters 1000, it draws a comparable field.

The top-ranked Monte Carlo resident, Jannik Sinner, is still out, but a good chunk of the Top 10—including Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Jack Draper, Andrey Rublev, and defending champion Stefanos Tsitipas—are in.

Here’s a look at three storylines to follow as we embark on the long road to Roland Garros.

“How do I feel? Dreadful,” Alcaraz said after his loss in Miami. “The first part of the season, I was feeling good, but after this defeat... I don’t know what to say.”

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Carlos Alcaraz tries to dispel the doubts

After his loss to David Goffin, the Spaniard was as vocally disgusted by his performance as many of us could remember.

“How do I feel? Dreadful,” he asked and answered himself. “The first part of the season, I was feeling good, but after this defeat... I don’t know what to say.”

For the first time since 2021, Alcaraz will come into the clay season without a title in either Indian Wells or Miami. While he’s the defending champion at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, his inconsistency has cost him in best-of-three events. On the plus side, this will be the first time he has made it to Monte Carlo since 2022—he has only played one match at the tournament, an opening-round loss to Sebastian Korda.

Which means, hopefully, this will feel like a new start, where he’ll have little to lose. He’ll be back on his favorite surface; he’ll have a chance to finally win a match in Monte Carlo; and he won’t have points to defend.

As I wrote above, Alcaraz’s matches here will come with implications for his title defense in Paris. But he’s one guy who may want to forget about the Slams, and their more-forgiving best-of-five format, for a little while and concentrate on keeping his level as high as possible, for as long as possible, in best-of-three.

Alcaraz is in the same quarter as Rublev, and will play either Fabio Fognini or Francisco Cerundolo to start.

Tsitsipas has won Monte Carlo three of the last four years.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas looks to continue his mysterious mastery of Monte Carlo

The fact that Tsitsipas has won Monte Carlo three of the last four years is one of the odd ATP facts of this decade. He has won just nine other titles—only two of them on clay—and has never won another 1000. Yet he keeps finding his best here. Last year, he knocked off Sinner in the semifinal in three sets.

We know that Tsitsipas is inspired by the fact that his mother’s name is on a winner’s plaque at the Monte Carlo Country Club. Will that be enough for him to make if four titles in five years? If he wasn’t the defending champ, your eye might pass right over him in the draw. He has had one good week this season, when he won the title in Dubai. He lost in the first round at the Australian Open and the second round in Miami. He’s currently ranked No. 8, but an early loss this week could see him joining Daniil Medvedev outside the Top 10.

Draw-wise, Tsitsipas is in an OK place. He’ll start against either Jordan Thompson or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and could face Holger Rune and top seed Alexander Zverev in the rounds after that.

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What are the early-round matchups to watch out for?

Maybe the biggest disappointment of this field is that the game’s two teen sensations, Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca, aren’t in it. Without them, there’s a little less buzz, and a lot of familiarity, to the draw. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t matches of note.

Jiri Lehecka vs. Sebastian Korda. Both of these guys seem due for a good run during the clay swing, and the winner could quickly face a less-than-in-form Zverev
Medvedev vs. Karen Khachanov. Khachanov won when they met here last year. Will Medvedev’s 2025 decline continue on dirt?
Ben Shelton vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the 2022 finalist
Arthur Fils vs. Tallon Griekspoor
Zverev vs. Matteo Berrettini, in a possible second round

And how about Novak Djokovic? He played well enough to make the final in Miami, but now faces a tight turnaround on a different surface and continent. Djokovic has had his struggles here in the recent past, losing early in 2021, 2022, and 2023. But last year he survived until the semis.

This time he’ll start against either Stan Wawrinka or Alejandro Tabilo. The three seeds in his quarter are Medvedev, Alex De Minaur, and Grigor Dimitrov.

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