Monte Carlo, ATP 1000

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https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/monte-carlo-masters-2024-men-s-singles-draw-analysis-preview-prediction-ft-potential-novak-djokovic-carlos-alcaraz-sf

A lot of tough 1st rounders, Fritz vs Musetti, Demon vs Stan, Hurcatz vs Draper, Berrenttini vs Kecmanovic, Khachanov vs Norrie, Korda vs Davidovich Fokina, Fils vs Mannarino. Top 8 seeds get a bye.

[jimlosaltos]

TP: Lorenzo Musetti earned his 100th tour-level win on Sunday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masterswhen he moved past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 at the clay-court event.

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[QUOTE=jimlosaltos;n103892]
TP: Lorenzo Musetti earned his 100th tour-level win on Sunday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masterswhen he moved past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 at the clay-court.

Fritz too many errors. Musetti just managed his game better. Musetti 15 winners, 21 errors. Fritz 17 winners, 29 errors.

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No real surprises today orher than maybe Evans being routined by Ofner. Tomorrow has a lot of big matches.

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Stan goes out ti demon in 2 sets, and was really not competitive. Kind of a tough watch. Berrenttini up next vs Kecmanovic, who is certainly a good test.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/tcdwzinFXJKWb5MG9

Berrenttini had no answers for Kecmanovic.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/TuxExpMtPCijKzYR6

Very good match Musetti over Fils. Just too many errors from Fils. Musetti has looked very good through the first 2 rounds. Novak up next for him, and Novak looked dialed in today.

[jimlosaltos]

Sinner 2 and 1 over Korda. Sinner won 95% of his first serve points vs only 50% for Korda, who is a decent server.

Yet another match with Sinner defending all the breakpoints he faced, 3 for 3 today. Sinner is simply not getting broken in 2024. Per ATP "Leaderboard" Sinner is number one on the tour with 73.7% of break points saved and 78.3% of deciding sets won. Those are 6+% and 10% better than Djokovic.

I sorted this table on %Break Points Saved. Djoko is Home per total "Under Pressure Rating". Also note this is for trailing 52 weeks, while in the first half of that period Sinner was still experimenting with his platform service and hadn't started the post-conversion surge.

filedata/fetch?id=103950&d=1712768347&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

Djokovic says in an interview with SkySports, "It is only a matter of weeks until Sinner becomes number one. Ranking is not my main goal this year."

That, of course, has seeding implications for the French Open, as well as Wimbledon.

filedata/fetch?id=103952&d=1712785440&type=thumb

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Match of the day, Tsitsipas vs Zverev. Novak also plays Musetti, and Grigor vs Rune(if he wins his match vs Nagal).

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/YQboxeNZc3tnFNTU8

Not much separating them. Bottom line, Stef's backhand held up well.

[jimlosaltos]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YQboxeNZc3tnFNTU8

Not much separating them. Bottom line, Stef's backhand held up well.

What an odd one. Tsitispas up 7-5, 5-0 -- just collapses. Then comes back to win tiebreak.

The whole year has been weirdly unstable for the Greek. But his forehand was on fire.

[jimlosaltos]

Grigor is one hold away from evening things vs Rune-AH after dropping an opening tiebreak.

Go singleton!

[jimlosaltos]

Djokovic avenges last year's loss to Musetti but not after stumbling out of the gate. Novak admits getting riled helped him.

Is Novak's glass half full or half empty? Both. He won in straight sets. Djokovic also faced 6 BPs and was broken 3 times in one two sets.

"It was a little exchange with the crowd at 4-3, 40/0 for him in the first set and ever since then I gained momentum," Djokovic said when asked how he turned the tide in the opening set. "He lost focus a little bit. He was the better player for those first seven games, played some great tennis. Played really good shots and made me run.

"But this is clay and obviously things can turn around very quickly and a break of serve is not as a big advantage on this surface compared to the other surfaces. We saw a little bit of a rollercoaster in the second set, so I am pleased that staying tough and aggressive in the tight moments paid off."

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/zc6jnvB1Et4xcH1u9

Quite the match. Both played great. Sinner up next for Rune.