Alcaraz Avoids Djokovic and Zverev Until Monte Carlo Final

Carlos Alcaraz has learned his path in the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000, which kicks off on Sunday. The Spaniard, making his clay-court debut this season, will face either Italy's Fabio Fognini or Argentina's Francisco Cerúndolo in the second round, having received a bye in the first round as a seeded player.

Alcaraz holds a positive head-to-head record against both, with two wins and no losses. Fognini, a wildcard entry due to his 2019 tournament victory, was defeated by Alcaraz in Rio de Janeiro in 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, Cerúndolo, a good friend of Alcaraz, lost to him at Queen's in 2024 and at the recent Indian Wells Masters 1,000. This could be their first meeting on clay.

The draw, held on Friday at the Monaco club with two-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in attendance, was relatively kind to Alcaraz. He could meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round, Andrey Rublev, the 2023 winner, or Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals, and Jack Draper, the Indian Wells champion, or Casper Ruud in the semi-finals.

On the opposite side of the draw are Alexander Zverev, the top seed following Jannik Sinner's three-month doping suspension, Novak Djokovic, and Tsitsipas. Zverev might face Matteo Berrettini in his opener, Djokovic could meet Stan Wawrinka, and Tsitsipas is set to play Giovanni Mpetschi-Perricard.

Monte Carlo is the only Masters 1,000 among the nine on the calendar where Alcaraz has never won a match. Due to various injuries, he has only played one match here, in 2022, losing to Sebastian Korda. The Monaco tournament marks Alcaraz's return to competition after a lukewarm North American hard-court swing, where he reached the Indian Wells semi-finals but failed to defend his title, and was ousted early in Miami by David Goffin.

The El Palmar native has spent several days training on clay in Murcia before heading to Monte Carlo, where he will debut next week. He has the opportunity to gain 1,000 points to close the gap on Sinner in the world rankings. Despite his absence from the circuit, the Italian comfortably leads the standings with a 3,610-point advantage over Alcaraz.