2019 ATP Monte Carlo: Roger Federer won't play, Nadal and Djokovic will
45 out of top 53 ranked players have committed to the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, the only Masters 1000 out of nine that is not mandatory. The main draw event will take place from 15th to 21st April and some players would rather have a longer break after the Miami Open. One of them is Roger Federer, who already announced his plans to compete in Madrid and at the French Open. "Monte Carlo comes too soon," Federer had said. He has reached four finals here and last played in 2016. After not committing to the event in 2018, Stan Wawrinka features in the entry list. The Swiss won the 2014 title here defeating Federer in a three-set championship clash. Rafael Nadal is clearly the top favorite, the Spaniard will seek his 12th title and in the last year's final, he defeated Kei Nishikori. The Japanese did not play here from 2013 to 2017, but he has decided to play in the event for the second year in a row.
Besides Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, John Isner, Milos Raonic, Alex De Minaur, Nick Kyrgios, Steve Johnson and Matthew Ebden will also not play. The 2013 and 2015 winner Novak Djokovic had said in Indian Wells he wasn't sure about playing the event, despite living there. Alexander Zverev is another Monte Carlo resident, as well as Grigor Dimitrov. Dominic Thiem will definitely be in the spotlight as well having just won the Indian Wells title and being one of the top clay-court specialists.
Fabio Fognini will start his clay-court season here, where he reached the semi-finals in 2013 losing to Novak Djokovic. The Italian will also compete in Barcelona, Estoril, Madrid, Rome, Geneva and French Open. That's seven tournaments in a row! The French Open defending semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato, Matteo Berrettini, and Andreas Seppi are the three other Italians who have committed themselves to the event.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Fq7h8k
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