The clay court season has just started, and next week we will have the first ATP1000 of the season on the dirt in Monte Carlo.
Almost all the top players are going to play in the Principality with the notable exception of Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro.
Who will win Monte Carlo?
There are 4 “main” favorites to win the title in Monaco
Rafael Nadal
The hot favorite is Rafael Nadal that conquered the trophy in Monte Carlo already 11 times, and he was the runner-up once in 2013. Rafa started his 2019 pretty strong after he reached the Australian Open final without dropping any set before falling to an even better Novak Djokovic. Later the Spaniard lost in Acapulco at the hands of Nick Kyrgios after an extremely controversial match.
The world no.2 had a not-so-good experience during the Sunshine Double since he had to withdraw before playing the semifinal against Roger Federer. Eventually, he had to retire also from Miami to get ready for the clay court season.
Novak Djokovic
Even if Rafa is the hot favorite to win his 12th title, he will have a fierce competition lead by the world no.1 Novak Djokovic that won the title on 2 occasions (2013 and 2015), and he was the runner-up in 2009 and 2012.
The world no.1 had a fantastic start of the season after he conquered his 15th slam in Melbourne. However, after a prolonged break, he had an unpleasant experience in the US after he crashed out early in both Indian Wells (3rd round) and Miami (4th round).
Sascha Zverev
Alexander Zverev will also fancy his chances in Monte Carlo. The German won 4 of his 10 titles on clay, and he has conquered already 2 ATP1000 on the dirt during his young career in Rome (2017) and Madrid (2018).
Sascha ended last season in the best possible way after he won the ATP Finals following back to back victories against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
However, the 21-year-old had a rather disappointing start of the season after he lost in the 4th round at the Australian Open, and he reached the final in Acapulco. The Sunshine Double was a sheer disaster for the German that was struggling with an illness to lose in the 3rd round in Indian Wells and the opening match in Miami.
Sascha is currently in Marrakech, where he is the favorite and good pick for tennis betting with Betway as he is in pole position to win his 5th title on clay.
Dominic Thiem
The next in line is Dominic Thiem that is the 2018 Roland Garros runner-up and he is considered by many as the best play on clay after Nadal.
However, Dominic Thiem had an extremely unusual start of the season. In fact, the Austrian played 6 tournaments and he had a very disappointing run in 5 of them, but then he surprised anyone after he won the title in Indian Wells after he defeated Roger Federer in a tense final.
Poll results
According to a recent poll, to date, Rafa is the favorite with almost 45% of the votes, followed by Djokovic (23.5%), Thiem (11%), and Zverev 8%.
Who won last year
Last year it was Rafael Nadal to win the title in Monaco and without dropping a single set on the way after he beat Aljaz Bedene 6-1 6-3, Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-2, Dominic Thiem 6-0 6-2, Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-1, and Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-2.
[Total_Soft_Poll id=”36″]
NADAL OR DJOKOVIC ?
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