Carlos Alcaraz arrives at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell as the top seed and defending champion, but the Spaniard will have to pass some tough early tests if he wants to repeat his 2022 triumph at the clay-court ATP 500.

View Draws: Barcelona | Banja Luka | Munich

The World No. 2 opens his campaign against Ilya Ivashka or Nuno Borges at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899. His fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut is a potential third-round opponent while fifth seed Frances Tiafoe, fresh from winning his maiden clay-court ATP Tour title in Houston, is seeded to meet Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz fell to Tiafoe in straight sets on his Barcelona main-draw debut in 2021, but charged to the title in Catalunya a year later by completing semi-final and championship-match wins on the same day. The 19-year-old is playing his first event since he enjoyed a successful ‘Sunshine Double’ in March, when he lifted his third ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells before reaching the semi-finals in Miami.

Casper Ruud, a nine-time tour-level titlist on clay, is also in the top half of the Barcelona draw. The third seed opens against an American, Mackenzie McDonald or Ben Shelton. Sixth seed Karen Khachanov is a potential quarter-final opponent for Ruud as he looks to bounce back from his third-round exit at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas headlines the bottom half of the draw, where the Greek will take on Pedro Cachin or Gijs Brouwer first up. Alex de Minaur, who held two match points before losing to Alcaraz in the 2022 semi-finals, is a potential quarter-final opponent for Tsitsipas.

Jannik Sinner is the highest-ranked player in a stacked third quarter of the draw. The fourth seed, a 2021 semi-finalist, plays Diego Schwartzman or Wu Yibing in his opening match. Seventh seed Cameron Norrie and ninth seed Lorenzo Musetti are potential quarter-final opponents for the 21-year-old.

Djokovic May Face Opening Wawrinka Test In Banja Luka
The Srpska Open in Banja Luka could host a heavyweight second-round clash between World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 16-time tour-level titlist Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss must defeat #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche to set a 27th ATP Head2Head clash against Djokovic (who leads their rivalry 20-6) at the ATP 250.

Sixth seed Jiri Lehecka against Gael Monfils headlines the first-round action at the clay-court event in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where second seed Andrey Rublev has been drawn to face Hugo Gaston or Juan Pablo Varillas first.

Former Champs Zverev & Rune In Same Half Of Munich Draw
Holger Rune enters an ATP Tour event as defending champion for the first time at the BMW Open by American Express, but two-time champion and home favourite Alexander Zverev could stand in his way in Munich.

Rune and Zverev are potential quarter-final opponents at the ATP 250, where the Dane prevailed in straight sets in the pair’s second-round meeting last season. The second seed in Bavaria is Taylor Fritz, who will face former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in the third round should both players reach that stage.

Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies were down two match points against Francisco Cerundolo and Daniel Evans in the opening round Monday.

Now, the French-German duo is into the semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Martin and Mies, who are playing their first tournament as partners this season, advanced to the last four Friday after upsetting top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 in one hour, 44 minutes.

Despite trailing 3/6 in the Match Tie-break, Martin and Mies rallied to win seven of the next eight points and advance to the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Both ranked inside the Top 30 of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, Martin and Mies will next meet Rotterdam champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, who advanced after the withdrawal of singles semi-finalists Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune.

In the bottom half of the doubles draw, Friday was an upset special. Wild cards Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn defeated three-time tour-level titlists Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 6-2, 7-6(3). Home favourite Arneodo and Austrian Weissborn will look to continue their run Saturday, when they meet Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, who ousted third seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

Never shy of admitting his preference for hard courts over clay, Daniil Medvedev is cherishing his achievements on the latter this week at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The third seed fell to a straight-sets quarter-final defeat against Holger Rune on Friday at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event. Yet he leaves Monaco feeling good about adding two more wins to his Tour-leading tally for 2023, and Thursday’s battling third-round victory against Alexander Zverev in particular.

“It was not bad,” said Medvedev, who is now 31-4 on the season, of his run to the last eight in the Principality. “I beat good players on clay. Yesterday evening [against Zverev] was magic. It was very tough on clay. It’s not easy to win matches like this.

“[Rune] played very well. I could have played a bit better, but if we talk about clay again, I’m not as at ease as he is on clay. I believe he’s better on that surface, and I think in the following years he’s going to be very strong on clay. So overall, it’s very positive. There are other big tournaments coming up. We’ll see what I do there, but I’m very happy with this tournament in Monte-Carlo.”

Medvedev has spoken about the challenge of hitting through opponents on clay as effectively as he does on hard courts. The former World No. 1 is working hard to identify the best way to counter his rivals on slower surfaces.

“There are things I’m trying to change,” said the 19-time tour-level titlist. “I’m trying to change the directions and have a bit of more topspin, because if you play flat on clay, it doesn’t work, especially against the better players.

“I believe my game was not so bad [against Rune], except that he was more decisive in important moments and he feels when he needs to be aggressive or defensive. This is something I feel well on hard courts and not as well on clay. So, I’m not sure I can change that, but I will try. If one day I’m able to become a monster on clay, I’m happy.”

After tasting defeat in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with Rune, Medvedev was full of praise for a player he believes possesses a natural ability on clay.

“He played good. He’s a great player on clay,” said Medvedev of the 19-year-old Dane, who reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros last year. “I feel like that’s the surface that suits him the best with his heavy topspin strokes. I think he’s a very dangerous player on clay for the years to come.”

The loss to Rune was just Medvedev’s second defeat in his past 28 tour-level matches. His red-hot run, which has included titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami, has propelled the 27-year-old to first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

On Monday, he will move within 2000 points of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, and Medvedev has fewer points to defend than both World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz across the rest of the European clay-court swing.

The youthful semi-final lineup at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters features the event’s fifth through eighth seeds, with young stars Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune joining 25-year-olds Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz in the last four.

Sinner and Rune will meet for the second time, while Rublev and Fritz — born eight days apart in October 1997 — are set for their seventh ATP Head2Head matchup.

ATPTour.com looks ahead to the Saturday singles slate in Monte-Carlo and previews the doubles semi-finals, where fifth seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek are the lone seeds standing.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

[6] Holger Rune (DEN) vs. [7] Jannik Sinner (ITA)

After his dominant win against fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti in Friday’s quarter-finals, the 21-year-old Sinner provided a succinct preview to tease this blockbuster matchup.

“Two young players facing each other. Both of us, we are very aggressive,” he said. “We try to do our thing on the court, different kinds of attitudes. It’s going to be hopefully a very exciting match.”

Both players are in imperious form in their first clay tournament of the season, with each playing first-strike tennis to great effect. Sinner and Rune will both seek to use their forehand to wrestle control of the rallies in this semi-final, with the Monaco crowd in store for an electric display of power tennis.

Sinner has been flawless since saving a match point against Hubert Hurkacz in the second set of their Thursday meeting. After escaping a tie-break to force a deciding set against the Pole, Sinner has lost just five games in his past three sets. His 6-2, 6-2 win against Musetti was a masterclass in attack tennis from start to finish. Sinner saved all five break points against him after Musetti broke the serve of Novak Djokovic eight times to reach the quarters.

Rune, 19, has not lost a set in his two Monte-Carlo matches. The Dane earned straightforward wins against Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev either side of a walkover against Matteo Berrettini.

Previous ATP Masters 1000 Results This Season

After beating Medvedev in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting, Rune looked ahead to a matchup against either Sinner or Musetti: “It’s going to be a great match no matter what,  he said. “Two young players, up and coming. [Although] they’re already at the top, so it’s not really ‘up and coming.'” 

The same could be said of Rune. The Dane rocketed into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last November, when he beat five Top 10 players in succession to claim his biggest career title at the Rolex Paris Masters.

He also defeated Sinner last year in the Sofia semi-finals, winning their lone previous matchup when the Italian retired with an ankle injury while trailing 2-5 in the third set.

Rune and Sinner are neck-and-neck in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, with the Italian having entered this week 10 points ahead of Rune, beating him out for World No. 8. But it’s Rune who leads the way in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, currently at No. 7 after improving on his second-round run as a qualifier last year in Monte-Carlo.

In the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Sinner sits in third place and could pass Djokovic for second by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title, giving him a strong chance of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals on home soil.

[5] Andrey Rublev vs. [8] Taylor Fritz (USA)

Rublev and Fritz have made a habit of meeting on the ATP Tour’s biggest stages. Of their six previous meetings, four came at the ATP Masters 1000 level and one came at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals. The pair has never met on a clay court.

Fritz takes a three-match ATP Head2Head winning streak into Saturday, including a semi-final victory in Indian Wells last year on the way to the BNP Paribas Open crown. The American is also on a roll this year at the Masters 1000s; he is one of three men (Medvedev, Sinner) to have reached the quarter-finals or better at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo. 

After backing up his 2022 run to the Monaco quarters, Fritz went one better by beating two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4 on Friday. 

“I thought my level today was very high. I think I played a very good match. Beating him here gives me a lot of confidence,” said Fritz, who is seeking his 11th tour-level final and his first on clay. “It has given me the reassurance I need to know I can play well on clay.

Outside of his progress to the last eight last year in Monaco, the American had never been beyond the third round at a clay-court Masters 1000 or at Roland Garros.

Rublev, a 2021 finalist in Monte-Carlo (l. to Tsitsipas), also reached the quarters at Rome that season and in Madrid the following year. He is seeking his first ATP Masters 1000 title, his 13th overall and his fourth on clay.

The fifth seed has won six straight sets to reach the semis, following up a comeback against Jaume Munar with straight-sets victories against Karen Khachanov and Jan-Lennard Struff.

One of the most popular players on the ATP Tour with fans and players alike, Rublev is now preparing to take on another friend in the semis after his previous meeting with longtime pal Khachanov.

Looking ahead to the matchup, Fritz was full of praise for the fifth seed: “He is a great player and a good friend and I am excited for the match,” the Netflix Break Point star said. “He is tough.”

Like the Rune-Sinner matchup, this one promises plenty of big hitting from the baseline, with neither man particularly fond of defending.

Doubles SFs

Dodig and Krajicek will seek to make the most of their status as the lone seeded team in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals when they take on Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies on Saturday. The fifth seeds beat 2019 Wimbledon and US Open champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the opening round before receiving a walkover from Fritz and Rune in the quarters.

Martin/Mies earned their semi-final spot by upsetting top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in a Match Tie-break on Friday.

Saturday’s second doubles semi will see Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz face the Monegasque-Austrian pairing of Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn, with both matches set for centre stage on Court Rainier III.

In a battle of 21-year-old Italians, Jannik Sinner overwhelmed Lorenzo Musetti on Friday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters to continue his success this season at the ATP Masters 1000 events.

The seventh-seeded Sinner earned a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory to advance to the semi-finals for the third straight event at the prestigious level, backing up his runs to the Indian Wells semis and the Miami final. By improving to 7-0 against his countrymen on the ATP Tour, Sinner became the first Italian to reach the Monte-Carlo semis since Fabio Fognini won the 2019 title in Monaco. He will face sixth seed Holger Rune on Saturday for a place in the final.

“It’s not easy playing against [Musetti],” Sinner reflected after the win, saying that the match was closer than the scoreline indicated. “I know his ability, his style, especially on this surface. I knew that I had to step up, try to take my chances before him.

“For sure starting [well], breaking him early gave me a lot of confidence and obviously I’m very happy about the performance… I felt great today on the court. I felt that I’m hitting the ball in the right spots in the right moments. I tried to stay aggressive, which I’ve done, so that’s for sure the positive thing.”

Sinner is the only man to reach the last four at all three ATP Masters 1000s this season, and one of only three to reach the quarters at each event (Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz). After entering Monte-Carlo at a career-high of World No. 8, Sinner can rise to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by claiming his first Masters 1000 title and eighth tour-level crown on Sunday.

He would also move up to second in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, behind Medvedev, if he wins the Monte-Carlo trophy.

Under pressure from the first ball on Court Rainier III, Musetti could not match his comeback heroics from Thursday, when he battled back from a set down to stun Novak Djokovic. Though he created five break points, he could not make a breakthrough on the Sinner serve after breaking the Serbian eight times.

Sinner raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, hitting his spots exceptionally well with his booming forehand to take control. While Musetti threatened early in set two, Sinner recovered from a tough opening service game to break to love, setting himself on his way to his first Monte-Carlo semi-final appearance.

Musetti continued to challenge his countryman with consistency and creativity, but Sinner had all the answers down the stretch. His relentless aggression helped him improve to 2-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head, without a set lost.

Sinner’s return game was on 🔥 today!@tennis_insights | @ROLEXMCMASTERS | #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/leT1nR9gnN

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 14, 2023

Sinner won the Montpellier title and reached the Rotterdam final this year in addition to his ATP Masters 1000 success, and he is now 24-5 on the season.

The Italian is expecting a fun match against Rune in Saturday’s semis: “Two young players facing each other. Both of us, we are very aggressive,” he said, previewing the pair’s second ATP Head2Head meeting. “We try to do our thing on the court, different kinds of attitudes. It’s going to be hopefully a very exciting match.”

Musetti, after his win against Djokovic, was bidding to earn two Top 10 wins at a tournament for the first time. Instead, he fell to 5-10 against Top 10 opponents with defeat in his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final (2022 Paris).

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, with the 12-time champion explaining he is not yet ready to return to competitive action after suffering a leg injury at January’s Australian Open.

“Barcelona is a tournament that is special for me,” wrote Nadal, who suffered a grade 2 injury in the iliopsoas muscle of his left leg in Melbourne, in Spanish on social media. “I’m still not ready and I’m continuing my preparation process for the return to competition.”

Nadal holds a 66-4 record in Barcelona, where Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed at the clay-court ATP 500 event, which runs from 17-23 April.

He may be just 19 years old, but Holger Rune continues to build an impressive record against his Top 10 rivals.

The Dane defeated the in-form Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Friday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. Rune delivered a calm and collected quarter-final display against the World No. 5, frequently manoeuvring Medvedev around the court with clean baseline hitting off both wings.

“It wasn’t easy for sure, it’s always tough to play Daniil,” said Rune, who has risen two spots to No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Monte-Carlo run. “It was actually my first time playing against him in a real match, but we’ve practised tonnes of times. I have huge respect for everything he’s done. The last week it was not easy to stop him but I’m happy I managed to do it.”

Clinical attack 🎯 from @holgerrune2003 ‼️

Over the past 6⃣ tournaments, Medvedev has only lost twice:
vs Alcaraz, #ConversionScore = 75%
vs Rune, #ConversionScore = 78%

They are the only players to have a 70%+ #ConversionScore vs Meddy since Jan 👏💪🤯 pic.twitter.com/sAGgb8TcxM

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) April 14, 2023

Rune improved to 10-8 against opponents in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as a result of his 78-minute win in the Principality, a 56% win rate according to Infosys ATP Stats. Five of those victories against the ATP Tour’s elite came during his stunning run to the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters title, and Rune will face Jannik Sinner, a 6-2, 6-2 quarter-final winner against Lorenzo Musetti, in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals as he chases his second crown at Masters 1000 level.

“It’s going to be a great match no matter what,” said Rune, speaking before Sinner had defeated Musetti. “Two young players, up and coming. [Although] they’re already at the top, so it’s not really ‘up and coming’. Lorenzo had a great win yesterday and Sinner is in form as well so it’s going to be a tough match.”

Best Records vs. Top 10 (active players)

*Minimum 10 wins

Rune now holds a 16-7 record for the 2023 season, during which he has also reached semi-finals in Montpellier and Acapulco. The Dane faces extra pressure to maintain his consistent form across the European clay season, however.

In the coming weeks, he must defend Pepperstone ATP Ranking points from his 2022 title run in Munich, as well as last year’s semi-final showing in Lyon and his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros. If he can forge similar clay-court successes this year, Rune could be well-placed in his bid to crack the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Ranking for the first time.

After clinching the only break of the first set in the fourth game of Friday’s clash against Medvedev, Rune broke again for 2-1 in the second set as his aggressive hitting kept the third seed under constant pressure. Despite Medvedev immediately reclaiming the break to reignite his chances of sealing a 27th win in 28 tour-level matches, Rune’s sharp returning engineered another, and this time decisive, break in the ninth game.

Rune converted three of his five break points and won 81 per cent (17/21) of points at net. The three-time ATP Tour titlist was pleased with how he countered Medvedev’s serve, one of the former World No. 1’s most effective weapons during his recent red-hot run.

“It’s just really staying in the moment. His serve is huge, he can hit every target, it’s very effortless I would say,” Rune said. “He can just toss the ball and goes full. When it’s in and on the line, there’s nothing to do, you just have to accept it and try to see every chance you can get and take it.”