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.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ quest for a three-peat at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters was ended by Taylor Fritz on Friday. Following his straight-sets quarter-final loss, the Greek was quick to provide an honest assessment of his disappointing defeat.

“I just seemed off. My serve was not working very well today, and against opponents like Taylor, you have to serve well,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match press conference. “I was aware of that during the match. I just couldn’t find the rhythm.

“I am much better than this and I’m disappointed I was not able to show my game today. I tried to fight on the second set. It’s a good lesson. It’s not a happy day for me, but it’s a good lesson.”

Tsitsipas will drop two spots to No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday following his fifth defeat of the season. After reaching the Australian Open final at the start of the year, the Greek was forced to withdraw from Acapulco due to a shoulder injury, which hampered him in Indian Wells and Miami.

The 24-year-old, who competed eight times across February and March, believes his lack of matches impacted him on the clay in Monte-Carlo.

“This injury on my shoulder didn’t really give me opportunity to build up momentum and rhythm,” Tsitsipas said. “I have been thinking about it, how I could have gained points playing in Acapulco, perhaps playing healthy in Indian Wells and Miami, and these are the Tour tournaments that I was actually aiming for, because these are big tournaments. They can give you a lot of points to add to your confidence and keep building on the Race to Turin, which is important to me.”

Tsitsipas, currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, was chasing his 13th consecutive win in Monte-Carlo, having lifted the trophy in 2021 and 2022. The Greek feels his success on the surface has made him a target for opponents.

“There are players out there that will play their best to beat me. They know how well I can play on clay and they are really hungry, and I feel like maybe sometimes they have nothing to lose so they really leave it out there,” Tsitsipas said. “I don’t know if that’s the expression, but they play out of their skin to give the best chance to themselves out there.”

Tsitsipas will next head to the ATP 500 clay-court event in Barcelona, which starts on Monday.

Taylor Fritz earned his first Top 10 clay-court win on Friday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he overcame defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in the Principality for the first time.

The second seed Tsitsipas entered the clash on a 12-match winning streak in Monte-Carlo, having triumphed at the ATP Masters 1000 event in 2021 and 2022. However, he was unable to find his best level against Fritz, who forced the Greek into 18 unforced errors with his weight and depth of shot to advance after 70 minutes.

“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,” Fritz said. “It has given me the reassurance I need to know I can play well on clay.

“I seemed to play well on the big points. I took my chances. I knew that if I played too safe he would be able to get around and dictate on the forehand. So even in the pressure moments I pulled the trigger.”

Fritz struck 17 winners and was dominant on his second serve, winning 70 per cent (14/20) of points behind his second delivery to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

The American has improved to 1-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Tsitsipas and will next meet Andrey Rublev after the fifth seed defeated German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff.

“He is a great player and a good friend and I am excited for the match,” Fritz said when asked about Rublev. “He is tough.”

Fritz, who defeated Stan Wawrinka and Jiri Lehecka earlier this week, is chasing his second ATP Masters 1000 crown, having lifted the trophy in Indian Wells last year. The World No. 10 holds a 23-6 record on the year, highlighted by his run to the title in Delray Beach.

Tsitsipas was aiming to complete a three-peat in the Principality after title runs in 2021 and 2022. The 24-year-old will drop two spots to No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday following his fifth defeat of the season.

Is this the week Andrey Rublev captures his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown?

The fifth seed booked his spot in the semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Friday when he moved past German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 7-6(5).

In a tale of two sets, Rublev hit with effortless power throughout the opening set, striking nine winners to move ahead. He then remained patient in the second set, finding the feet of the onrushing Struff at the net at key moments to earn his 16th tour-level win of the season after one hour and 39 minutes.

“I was able to show a great level through the match, except some moments where I started to show emotions and started to get negative,” Rublev said in his on-court interview. “In the end it was a dramatic match, especially in the second set. But I was able to calm myself down and play a good tie-break and I was lucky to win in straight sets.”

The 25-year-old now leads Struff 3-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, avenging his loss against the 32-year-old in their previous meeting at Roland Garros in 2021.

“I was trying to still be aggressive in the second set but he started to play a bit better,” Rublev said. “He started to play more aggressive. If I started to push, he would start to destroy me, so I have to be the one to hit the ball.”

Rublev will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas or Taylor Fritz as he aims to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 final and second in Monte-Carlo. The 12-time tour-level titlist advanced to the title match in the Principality in 2021.

In a heavy-hitting clash in Monte-Carlo, Rublev opened his shoulders in the first set, cleaning lines with his flat groundstrokes to pull Struff around. The fifth seed then remained patient in the second set, recovering from squandering a break advantage to advance.

Struff leaves Monte-Carlo at No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after climbing 34 spots following his run. The qualifier, who was competing in his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, defeated fourth seed Casper Ruud in the third round to earn the biggest win of his season.

Wake up, brush his teeth, play video games.

That may be Alexander Shevchenko’s perfect day without tennis. The 22-year-old recalled that was roughly the schedule that he and World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev kept when the tour was put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

“I like to game a lot, sometimes with Daniil Medvedev when we are in touch,” Shevchenko told ATPTour.com. “When we speak, we are playing games together like Rainbow Six Siege and FIFA. I’m usually Manchester United and he takes Bayern Munich, because he’s a fan of Bayern. Right now, it’s not so often because we have a tough calendar. When he has weeks off, sometimes I’m off as well.

“During Covid times, I remember we were playing so much that it was crazy. First thing, we wake up, go brush our teeth, eat, and then we sit down and play for I don’t know how many hours. I don’t even want to say it!”

The World No. 107 Shevchenko is relishing a breakout season on the ATP Challenger Tour. After claiming his maiden Challenger title in Bratislava last year, Shevchenko added to his trophy collection by claiming the Tenerife-1 Challenger in January. Two months later, Shevchenko made a splash at the all-new Challenger 175 event in Phoenix, Arizona, where he advanced through qualifying en route to a finalist finish.

But all didn’t look too well when Shevchenko arrived in Phoenix.

“I came into Phoenix with no expectations, I wasn’t even entered in the tournament because I messed up a little bit with the entries,” Shevchenko said. “So I went with my father to Indian Wells and from Indian Wells to Phoenix by car. We arrived there and there was no hotel room for us because I was an alternate and I couldn’t get a room there, there was a big baseball event going on at that time.

“I was like, ‘Okay, we didn’t get a hotel here but let’s see if we can book another hotel.’ And we opened up the booking and the price for the hotel was $1,500 per night. We were shocked and thinking about what to do, ‘We have to stay two days without knowing if I would get in and pay $3,000 for the hotel?’ In the end, we were just waiting in the car and it popped up at like 11 p.m. or midnight that there’s one hotel for $300 and we went there. It was crazy. We were preparing to sleep in the car.”

A full house at the Arizona Tennis Classic watches Alexander Shevchenko. Credit: Mary Grace Grabill

When ‘Sascha’ got settled into the Arizona Tennis Classic, things began to click for him. En route to the final, he ousted several players whom he enjoys watching on TV.

“When I got into the tournament and got an official hotel, my first [main-draw] match was against [Gael] Monfils, my idol growing up,” Shevchenko said. “The first match I ever saw was Monfils against Federer in the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 2008. I just fell in love with the way he plays tennis and his passion. He’s a showman.

“The quarter-final was the best win of my career against Matteo Berrettini, who is one of my favourites to watch on the tour right now. Unbelievable serve, unbelievable forehand.”

What’s noteworthy is that Shevchenko and the Frenchman Monfils share a coach, Gunter Bresnik, who has worked with prominent players such as Boris Becker, Patrick McEnroe, and Dominic Thiem.

Shevchenko, who has lived in Vienna since age nine, met Bresnik in a unique way.

“I went on holiday with my family to Kitzbuehel and I said to my mother, ‘I don’t want to ski, I don’t want to snowboard, I just want to play tennis!’ She wanted me to play other sports but she said, ‘Okay, let’s go play tennis.’ So we found a coach, an ex-player of Gunter, Markus Hipfl, he was surprised by how well I played and he said that I should come to Gunter and then he contacted Gunter.

“I’ve worked with him since I was nine years old. Year by year I’m improving with him and I trust him a lot. To me, he’s like a father.”

Alexander Shevchenko is crowned champion at the 2023 Tenerife-1 Challenger. Credit: Daniele Combi/MEF Tennis Events.

Knocking on the door of a Top 100 debut, ‘Sascha’ is hoping that his surge is just at the beginning.

“My goal [this year] is to get to the Top 70 or 60. It’s going to be really tough,” Shevchenko said. “I don’t want to say just to have big expectations but I think it’s kind of a reachable goal with the way I’m playing right now.”

Shevchenko is in action at this week’s Madrid Challenger, where he is seeded second and will meet Sergi Perez Contri in Friday’s quarter-final.