The Monte-Carlo Masters, a men’s only ATP Masters 1000 event, has concluded its run for the 2024 season. The Masters, held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, is a history-filled, high prestige tournament for the French. Winning this ATP Masters is a major accomplishment for all male players on tour, and certainly impacts their momentum moving into later tournaments. Thus, here is a recap of the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters tournament.
Round of 64:
There are dozens of top 30 players who competed in this highly competitive tournament. Starting out with some notable victories in the first round are Stefanos Tsitsipas, with a two set walkover against Laslo Djere, alongside Grigor Dimitrov, who advanced with a clean two set victory. Other players like Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and other top players received a first round “bye.” These are typically allocated to the highest seeded players who get an automatic advancement to the next round without having to face competitors. Alternatively, one disappointing first round loss came from young American Taylor Fritz, who lost in two sets to Italian Lorenzo Musetti, cutting his tournament run very short this season.
Round of 32:
Moving into the next round, fans finally began to see some of their favorite top players compete. Favorite Novak Djokovic took down his opponent in a clean two set performance, along with Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Grigor Dimitrov, and Capser Ruud winning. In a grueling battle, Alex de Minaur came back to take down his competitor in three sets after a heavy first set loss. In a major tournament upset, number six seed Andrey Rublev, who received a first round bye, lost in two sets to the Australian seed 44, Alexei Popyrin.
Round of 16:
With only 16 competitors left, the competition intensified. Novak Djokovic defeated Musetti in two sets, getting revenge for his round of 16 three set loss to him during the 2023 tournament. Jannik Sinner advanced comfortably with another two set victory, alongside Casper Ruud and Alex de Minaur. Ugo Humbert, the 14 seed, battled to a three set victory against his unseeded Italian opponent Lorenzo Sonego. In one of the most exciting match ups yet, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Alexander Zverev in two tight sets, winning seven games to five in the first, and stealing the second set with a seven to three tiebreak victory. Surprisingly, one of the favored winners, Daniil Medvedev, took a two set loss to Russian number 15 seed, Karen Khachanov. Lastly, in a match up of athleticism, Holger Rune overtook Grigor Dimitrov in three sets, taking the third set to a tiebreak victory of seven to two.
Quarterfinals:
All remaining players are seeded inside the top 20, and no player can get off with an “easy” victory. Djokovic defeated de Minaur in two physical sets, with Tsitsipas also overtaking Khachanov in the same manner. Jannik Sinner faced the eager, title-seeking, Holger Rune in three sets. Though Sinner clinched the victory, it was an intense battle between the athletes, with Rune pushing it to a third and deciding set, after saving the previous set with a tiebreak win of eight to six.
Semifinals:
In the first of the final two match ups, Novak Djokovic faced Casper Ruud. Ruud took the first set with a break, winning six games to four. In the next set, Djokovic responded, destroying Ruud six to one to take the second set. In the deciding set to make it to the finals, the
Norwegian ended Djokovic’s run by a score of six games to four, which is one of the biggest wins of the young tennis player’s career. In the other match, Jannik Sinner faced Tsitsipas in a similar three set battle. The Greek took the first set six games to four, followed by Sinner taking the next set six games to three. In the last set for the spot in the finals, Tsitsipas stole it away from the Italian, finishing it off how he started with a six to four win.
Finals:
Norwegian Casper Ruud, the number eight seed, faced Greek number 12, Stefanos Tsitsipas in the match for the Monte-Carlo title. Unfortunately for Ruud, it was a rather quick defeat. Stefanos ran away with the first set six games to one, and despite Ruud’s improvement in the second set, it wasn’t enough to take down Stefanos, who took the second set and the Monte-Carlo Masters title six games to four.
