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The start of the clay court season has officially arrived, and the following Monte Carlo 2024 preview covers all you need to know about this 1000-level tournament. This is the first of three Masters 1000 events played in the build-up to Roland Garros. And as always, the tournament is stacked this year!
Big names like Djokovic, Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev, and others are all there. Of course, they’d all like to start the clay court season with a major title too. However, clay court events of this level are never easy, and my Monte Carlo 2024 preview will highlight why this is the case!
At the same time, I’ve covered key details such as the tournament schedule, seeds, draw breakdown, and more. So, let’s get right into it.
Key information – Monte Carlo 2024 preview
Contents
If you’re interested, I’ve got a few tennis predictions today that you can check out for the upcoming Monte Carlo matches. I’ve also got some outright predictions for you to look at once we’re through the key event details. Speaking of which, let’s get back on track and focus on the facts for this Monte Carlo 2024 preview.
Event schedule
The main draw for the Monte Carlo Masters begins on Sunday, April 7th. This marks the official start of the event, and the tournament will run from April 7th to April 14th. As for the rounds played for individual days, I’ve listed these below:
- First rounds – April 7th, 8th & 9th
- Second rounds – April 9th & 10th
- Third rounds – April 10th & 11th
- Quarter-finals – April 12th
- Semi-finals – April 13th
- Finals – April 14th
Note that there is an overlap on some days purely due to the size of the draw. And to clarify, finals day is Sunday, April 14th.
Defending champion
If you tuned in for the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters, you’ll know that Andrey Rublev picked up his first Masters title here last season. Whether he can replicate this achievement and defend his title, however – I have my doubts. Then again, he is the 6th seed, but he is set to face Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals if they both make it.
Prize money
Let’s talk numbers, shall we? After all, this Monte Carlo 2024 preview wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t highlight the vast sums of cash at stake for the participants. As for what’s on offer this year, the total prize pool is €5,950,575, yet the winner will take home €919,075.
This would be a nice payday for any of the competitors. And it would be the perfect start as we approach the other clay court Masters events shown in the ATP schedule 2024.
Location, format, and playing surface
You don’t need much guesswork to know where this tournament will be played. Of course, the Monte Carlo Masters is played in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is a place that radiates wealth, with many millionaires and billionaires calling this place home.
The tournament itself, however, is played at the Monte Carlo Country Club, which is about as prestigious as it gets on the ATP Tour. And as referenced throughout, this is a clay court event that follows a ‘best of three format’ for all matches – including the men’s doubles event.
Monte Carlo 2024 preview – top seeds and draw analysis
Since the draw is now available, it’s possible to look ahead to the top seeds, potential winners, and mouthwatering matches. That said, let me take a moment to run you through these important details now:
Top seeds
Part of my Monte Carlo 2024 preview involves highlighting the seeded players. Of course, these are the guys who are tipped to do well, if not win the entire event. The tournament has 16 seeds this year, split between the top and bottom halves of the draw.
Only the top 8 seeds receive ‘byes’ into round two, however, and I’d like to show you who they are and where they are placed:
Top half
- Novak Djokovic (1)
- Carlos Alcaraz (3)
- Andrey Rublev (6)
- Casper Ruud (8)
Bottom half
- Jannik Sinner (2)
- Daniil Medvedev (4)
- Alexander Zverev (5)
- Holger Rune (7)
Monte Carlo draw analysis
The Monte Carlo Masters consists of 56 players in the main draw. A total of 16 of these players are seeds, and there are 7 qualifiers as well as 4 wildcards. Let me highlight these wildcards before proceeding into my draw analysis:
- Stan Wawrinka
- Matteo Berrettini
- Valentin Vacherot
- Gael Monfils
Clearly, a couple of the ‘old boys’ have received the golden ticket this year. Yet, beyond the wildcards and qualifiers, this Monte Carlo 2024 preview has been particularly exciting to cover due to some mouthwatering contests coming up.
As for what these contests are, I’ve listed some confirmed round-one matches and a few potential blockbusters in round two right here:
- Musetti vs Fritz – round one
- De Minaur vs Wawrinka – round one
- Berrettini vs Kecmanovic – round one
- Auger-Aliassime vs Alcaraz – possible round two
- Monfils vs Medvedev – possible round two
- Davidovich Fokina vs Sinner – possible round two
Outright predictions – Monte Carlo 2024 preview of potential winners
The 2023 champion, as referenced earlier, was Andrey Rublev. However, he’s still not established himself as a top clay court player, despite winning this important 1000-level tournament last season. Therefore, I’ve looked beyond Rublev to establish a couple of outright tips – one for the ‘most likely’ winner and one for a possible surprise winner.
Men’s outright winner – Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz comes in as the 3rd seed for Monte Carlo this year following Sinner’s triumph at the Miami Open. This puts him in the top half of the draw, meaning he’ll likely need to take out Djokovic in the semis to reach the final. Then again, Alcaraz recently won Indian Wells, and he’s a fantastic clay court player, so he’s my ‘most likely’ pick to win the tournament.
Possible underdog winner – Grigor Dimitrov
Based on how Dimitrov played at the Miami Open, he has to be my choice for a possible underdog winner. In fact, of all the people I’ve highlighted in this Monte Carlo 2024 preview, he’s arguably the player I’m most excited to watch. It just seems he’s finally fulfilling the potential we always knew he had, and since he lives and trains in Monte Carlo, he’ll be right at home!
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