The first clay Masters program of the year exudes class and grandeur, much like ATP Monte Carlo itself. In 2024, Jannik Sinner—the hottest player in the world to date—and former two-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will join Novak Djokovic in his quest to become the first player in history to win three championships in every Masters 1000 event. We at LWOT have the preview and picks for the two semifinal games as usual. Who, though, do you believe will make it to the final?
This year, the Italian has only dropped one game. But against Holger Rune, the player who defeated him here the previous year, in the quarterfinals, that was seriously in jeopardy. The Australian Open champion demonstrated his mental growth even after being pushed to the limit. He then faces Stefanos Tsitsipas, the champion of 2021 and 2022. The Italian is unquestionably the favorite in the match, even though the Greek leads the rivalry.
Sinner has not only reached peak form but also seen a significant improvement in his serve during the past six months. Unfortunately, Tsitsipas’s comeback has always been maybe his biggest vulnerability. As a result, he has now fallen outside of the world’s top 10. When you combine the two, it’s difficult to imagine the World No. 2 losing. Right now, his consistency, power, and serve are just unrivaled.
Unbelievably, Djokovic hasn’t advanced past the semifinals of this competition since winning it all back in 2015. That doesn’t tell the entire story, though, because he hasn’t been at his best even if he hasn’t dropped a set along the way. After hurting early on against Lorenzo Musetti, the problems partly persisted against Alex De Minaur, breaking three times in the second set. Although it is unlikely that the Serb would prevail at this level in a potential final against the very skilled Jannik Sinner, there is a reason why their head-to-head record against Ruud is 5-0 with no sets lost.
