Jannik Sinner battled into the second round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Monday, but his victory was not without a scare.

Sinner clawed past Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 after two hours and 28 minutes in a clash between former Riccardo Piatti protégés. The ninth seed will next face Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori or German lucky loser Oscar Otte.

In the second set, it seemed unclear if Sinner would be able to complete the match. The Italian at times bent over and grimaced due to apparent pain in his midsection, for which he took a medical timeout late in the second set.

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But despite the pain and the efforts of Coric, who was playing just his fourth match since Rotterdam last March, Sinner powered his way to victory. The 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion saved a break point in the first game of the decider with a forehand winner and never looked back.

Sinner played aggressively on the clay, putting pressure on Coric that the Croatian was unable to consistently overcome. That was especially key early in the third set, when he regained the momentum. The five-time ATP Tour titlist spent 25 per cent of the third set playing offence compared to just 16 per cent for Coric, as revealed by Tennis Data Innovation’s new analysis tool, Balance Of Power (learn more).

In the second set, Coric led that metric 18 per cent to 16 per cent, so the big turnaround helped Sinner pave his path to victory.

The 20-year-old saved seven of the nine break points he faced and won 42 per cent of his first-serve return points. This is Sinner’s second appearance in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Tuesday’s action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will see the conclusion of the singles opening round and the start of the second round, with three of the tournament’s Top 10 seeds set to open their accounts on the week.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic returns to the ATP Tour for the first time since February, while third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces a tough challenge as he opens his title defence at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs. A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP)

Djokovic will contest his fourth ATP Tour match of the 2022 season when he takes on 22-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Court Rainier III. Following a quarter-final exit in Dubai, his only previous event of the year, the Serb is looking forward to a fresh start at the Monte Carlo Country Club, where he has trained for more than a decade. 

“I still feel motivated to compete with the young guys and try to challenge them and fight for one of the biggest trophies in our sport,” he said, looking ahead to Monte Carlo, where he lifted the title in 2013 and 2015.

Despite his past success and his comfort at the picturesque Monaco venue, Djokovic is keeping his expectations in check.

“I try not to have too high of expectations for myself, even though I obviously want to play at my best every tournament,” he said. “I’m behind with competitive play against 99 per cent of the players, so it will probably take me some time to find a groove, to find the right momentum and get myself in the rhythm. Hopefully sooner than later. I always want to believe that it can come already [in the] first or second match, but I’m trying to take things step by step.”

In World No. 46 Davidovich Fokina, he faces a stern early test. The Spaniard defeated Marcos Giron, 7-5, 6-3, in his opening match on Sunday and is seeking to build on his quarter-final run in Monte Carlo one year ago. The Serb has won both of their meetings to date, with straight-sets victories in Rome and at the Tokyo Olympics last season.

[3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. F. Fognini (ITA)

Tsitsipas did not drop a set in his five victories en route to the 2021 Monte Carlo title, and has dropped just one set in compiling a 3-0 ATP Head2Head advantage over 2019 champion Fabio Fognini.

“Monte Carlo holds a very special place in my heart,” said the Greek, who resides in Monaco and has fond memories of attending the event with his family every year growing up.

After a successful start to the 2022 season on hard courts, including semi-final showings at the Australian Open and Acapulco as well as a final run in Rotterdam, the 23-year-old Greek is excited to get back on the European clay. 

“I always have great memories playing on this surface,” he said. “For me it’s such an extreme surface because you can really utilise your weapons. You can find yourself from back on defence all the way to offence, all in a single rally. It’s definitely a surface of the extremes.

“I really like the fact that I’m really able to really get a good grip of the ball with heavy topspin and slide around the court. This is something I feel like is part of my nature.”

Fognini advanced to the second round with a three-set win over Arthur Rinderknech on Monday. Though the World No. 32 Italian is no longer the defending champion in Monaco, he is defending 500 ATP Ranking points from his 2019 run — half of the original 1000 he earned that year. Those 500 points make up 37 per cent of his ranking points.

Best Of The Rest

After starting his clay season on home soil in Houston, 10th seed Taylor Fritz will get hist first taste of the European red clay on Tuesday against wild card Lucas Catarina, a Monte Carlo native. The Indian Wells champion faced two Chileans last week, beating Alejandro Tabilo but falling in three sets to Cristian Garin. He is making his third Monte Carlo appearance, with his best result a third-round run in 2019. 

Fritz, who will face Catarina on Court Des Princes, is already off the mark in the Monte Carlo doubles competition, earning a win on Monday with countryman Sebastian Korda.

Daniel Evans will open play on Court Rainier III against lucky loser Benjamin Bonzi. Evans reached the Monte Carlo semi-finals in 2021, beating Djokovic, Hubert Hurkacz and David Goffin before defeat against Tsitsipas. The Briton also reached last year’s doubles final alongside countryman Neal Skupski.

Lorenzo Musetti will follow Evans on the show court, seeking his first Monte Carlo victory in his second appearance. The #NextGenATP Italian flashed his clay-court credentials by reaching the Roland Garros fourth round and the Lyon semi-finals in 2021. The 20-year-old faces Benoit Paire, who has a 4-7 record in Monte Carlo.

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Back on Court Des Princes, 16th seed Lorenzo Sonego will face Ilya Ivashka ahead of Fritz’s match. The Italian fell to Alexander Zverev in the Monte Carlo second round one year ago, but followed it up with a semi-final run in Rome. Qualifier Holger Rune, the Danish #NextGenATP star, will take on Aslan Karatsev on the same court, with Grigor Dimitrov closing play on the second stadium against Dusan Lajovic.

On Court 2, newly crowned Marrakech champion David Goffin, a Monte Carlo wild card, will open his campaign against Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka.

In doubles action, fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut take on wild cards Marcelo Melo and Zverev in one of five matches on the schedule. Evans, now teaming with Diego Schwartzman, will face Monagesque wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys. On Court 9 Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alexander Bublik will opening their campaign, as will Croatians Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig.

SCHEDULE – TUESDAY APRIL 12, 2022

COURT RAINIER III start 11:00 a.m.
D. Evans (GBR) vs. [LL] B. Bonzi (FRA)
L. Musetti (ITA) vs. B. Paire (FRA)
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs. A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
[3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. F. Fognini (ITA)

COURT DES PRINCES start 11:00 a.m.
[16] L. Sonego (ITA) vs. I. Ivashka
[1] T. Fritz (USA) vs. [WC] L. Catarina (MON)
[Q] H. Rune (DEN) vs. A. Karatsev
D. Lajovic (SRB) vs. G. Dimitrov (BUL)

COURT 2 start 11:00 a.m.
P. Martinez (ESP) vs. U. Hubert (FRA)
[WC] M. Melo (BRA) / A/ Zverev (GER) vs. [4] P. Herbert (FRA) / N. Mahut (FRA)
[WC] D. Goffin (BEL) vs. [Q] Jiri Leheccka (CZE)
[WC[ R. Arneodo (MON) / H. Nys (MON) vs. . Evans (GBR) / D. Schwartzman (ARG)

COURT 9 start 11:0 a.m.
[Q] E. Ruusuvuori vs. [LL] Oscar Otte (GER)
S. Gonzalez (MEX) / A/ Nolteni (ARG) vs. N. Basilashvili (GEO) / A. Bublik (KAZ)
M. Cilic (CRO) / I. Dodig (CRO) vs. A. Behar (URU) / G. Escobar (COL)

Court 11 start 11:00 a.m.
[LL] M. Cressy (USA) vs. L. Djere (SRB)
[8] M. Arevalo (ESA) / J. Rojer (NED) vs. T. Brkcuc (BIH) / N. Cacic (SRB)

Novak Djokovic took a break from his preparations for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Monday, but only to test his skills on the football pitch. To do so, he enlisted the help of a pair of fellow champions, Paris Saint-Germain superstars Neymar and Marco Verratti.

Djokovic joined in with a quick game of ‘keepie-uppies’ with the duo. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is a keen football fan and could have picked worse teammates on this occasion — Neymar is one of the most renowned names in world football and has scored 71 goals for Brazil’s national team, while Italy’s Verratti is known as one of Europe’s most skillful and tenacious midfielders.

👌 @neymarjr #marcoverratti pic.twitter.com/7eiZV4BWU8

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) April 11, 2022

Neymar and Verratti are two of the most high-profile stars from the top division of French football, Ligue 1. Paris Saint-Germain, based in the French capital, have won seven of the past nine league championships, with Neymar and Verratti spearheading their rise to one of the top clubs in Europe.

Wild card doubles pairing Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev also caught up with Neymar. Former World No. 1 doubles star Melo will hope the time spent with his countryman can inspire him to a 10th Masters 1000 title this week — the Brazilian has never lifted the trophy in Monte-Carlo. Meanwhile Zverev is seeking a maiden singles title at the only clay-court Masters 1000 event he is yet to win.

Djokovic is a four-time finalist in Monte-Carlo and kicks off his 2022 campaign against World No. 46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round on Tuesday.

Alexander Bublik ensured it would not be a winning return for Stan Wawrinka Monday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, downing the 2014 champion 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Former World No. 3 Wawrinka was competing in his first tour-level match in 13 months and he showed little sign of rustiness for large periods as he crushed forehands and hit his trademark backhand with great depth and topspin.

However, the 37-year-old was unable to maintain his best level as the match wore on, with World No. 36 Bublik causing Wawrinka problems with his powerful serve and variety of shots as he pulled the wild card around the court to claim his first win at the event in two hours and five minutes.

With his victory on Court Rainier III, Bublik now leads Wawrinka 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next face 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta or Argentine qualifier Sebastian Baez in the second round.

Wawrinka has lifted 16 tour-level trophies in his career, including the title in Monte-Carlo in 2014 when he defeated Roger Federer in the final. However, he missed the majority of last season due to injury, with his previous tour-level match prior to Monday coming against Lloyd Harris in Doha in March 2021.

The Swiss star, who admitted in his pre-tournament press conference that his road back to action has been ‘very long and difficult’, will take courage from his performance against Bublik, with the Montpellier titlist having to find his best level to see off Wawrinka.

In an entertaining clash, Wawrinka flew out of the blocks as he hit with controlled aggression to pin Bublik back and clinch the first set. After saving break points on serve at 1-2 and 2-3 in the second set, the 24-year-old started to grow in the match as he looked to move inside the baseline and finish points at the net.

Wawrinka fended off three set points on serve at 4-5, but couldn’t keep Bublik at bay for long, with the Kazakh levelling on his fourth set point. From there, it was one-way traffic as Bublik soared away in the third set as Wawrinka started to tire.

“I think the body’s getting much better,” Wawrinka said in his post-match press conference. “I’m still far away from where I want to be, but I think I’m [going in] the right direction. I think today was a positive match. It was a tough loss, of course, but I’m happy with the way I was playing today.

“I was playing better, feeling better on the court of course physically. I spent a lot of mental energy to focus, to stay there as it was tough at the end. But I’m happy with what I have done today.”

Argentine Diego Schwartzman showed his fighting spirit as he battled past Karen Khachanov 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 to improve to 10-3 on the season on clay.

The 12th seed, who advanced into the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo in 2017, reached finals in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in February. The 29-year-old will face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round.

Meanwhile, Australian Alex de Minaur eliminated Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-4 in 83 minutes. World No. 25 De Minaur is making his second appearance at the clay-court event, having fallen in the first round in 2021.

At just 18-years-old and with the world at his feet, Carlos Alcaraz remains determined to take everything in his stride.

“Sometimes it is difficult, but I am trying to make it easy,” said Alcaraz in his pre-tournament interview as he prepares for his debut at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. “Doing everything for the first time, I am trying my best, trying to manage the nerves of the first time well.”

The Spaniard certainly showed few signs of being overwhelmed at the Miami Open presented by Itau as he charged to a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Florida, defeating Casper Ruud in straight sets in the final to become the youngest champion in the tournament’s 37-year history.

The fast-paced nature of life on Tour meant there was precious little time between his whirlwind Miami success and the beginning of his clay-court preparations, but Alcaraz was still able to return to Spain to share the celebrations with those closest to him.

“It was really special for me,” said Alcaraz. “I had time to celebrate with my friends and family at home for a couple of days, but now it is time to focus on the clay, and the first Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo.”

Despite having already ticked off so many on-court milestones in his young career, it is easy to forget that the Spaniard is still a relative newcomer to the Tour. Alcaraz is still excited by the off-court novelties that accompany playing at the biggest events, and the stunning coastal backdrop to the Monte-Carlo Country Club is no exception.

“It’s pretty amazing, this place,” said Alcaraz. “Playing here is so good. Yesterday was my first training and beforehand I took a photo for the view, the sea, and yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

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The draw in Monte-Carlo has thrown up the possibility of a first meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster quarter-final at the Masters 1000 event, but Alcaraz will not be steered away from the step-by-step approach that has brought him three tour-level titles and taken him to a career-high No. 11 in the ATP Rankings.

“I don’t want to be in a rush, I just focus on the first [match],” he said. Alcaraz faces Sebastian Korda in the second round in Monaco, a rematch of the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals championship match.

“Obviously, it would be a great match against Novak,” added Alcaraz. “Playing against the No. 1 player in the world [would be] amazing for me, but I hope to play well in the first [matches] first and hope to meet him in the quarter-finals.”

This grounded approach has been instilled in Alcaraz by his team, led by coach and former World No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero.

“They support me a lot,” said Alcaraz. “Without them it wouldn’t be possible to be here, to win my first Masters 1000. They support me a lot, try so hard and obviously are talking with me every day, telling me the bad things, the things that I have to improve, the things that I am not doing well. That helps me a lot.”

That’s not to say that Alcaraz isn’t doing things his own way, and the Spaniard is happy that his natural demeanour can help him forge a connection with his thousands of new fans around the world.

“Of course, I will always be the same person,” said Alcaraz. “I will never change. I am confident doing selfies, autographs, everything. I will always be the same person.”

Sebastian Korda made a winning start on his debut at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Monday, overcoming Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 7-5 6-4 to reach the second round.

The American arrived at the third ATP Masters event of the season off the back of a run to the third round in Miami, but was made to work hard against the World No. 41 in his first clay-court match of the season.

Korda saved one set point on van de Zandschulp’s serve at 5-5 in the first set and rallied from a break down in the second set to eventually advance after one hour and 36 minutes.

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The 21-year-old, who lifted his maiden tour-level title on clay in Parma last season, has now levelled his ATP Head2Head series with van de Zandschulp at 1-1. The World No. 42 will next face Miami titlist Carlos Alcaraz in a re-match of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals 2021 championship match, which the Spaniard won.

Korda’s father Petr is a two-time Monte-Carlo doubles champion, having lifted the title in 1990 and 1993. Korda is also competing in the doubles event this week, partnering countryman Taylor Fritz.

Former champion Fabio Fognini booked his spot in the second round with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

The Italian entertained the fans throughout on Court Rainier III with his shot-making and movement to advance after two hours and 30 minutes. Fognini defeated Dusan Lajovic in the final in Monte-Carlo in 2019 to lift the biggest trophy of his career and will next face reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“The fans love me because I won in 2019! No I am joking,” Fognini said in his on-court interview. “I am happy. It was a difficult first match but I am pleased to get through and now have a great match to come. It is going to be tough against [Tsitspias]. Hopefully the people come and watch me in the next round. I really need them.”

No. 77 Nick Kyrgios, +17
The show-stopping Australian continues his surge up the ATP Rankings after a semi-final run in his first clay tournament since 2019 at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. Kyrgios showed no signs of rustiness on the red dirt as he produced an aggressive opening-round display to defeat Mackenzie McDonald for the first time, with the former World No. 13 also taking out Tommy Paul before falling to eventual champion Reilly Opelka.

View Latest ATP Rankings

No. 23 John Isner, +4
The 36-year-old American rises four spots despite missing out on a 17th tour-level title in Houston. Isner, who lifted the trophy in Texas in 2013, defeated fellow former champions Steve Johnson and Cristian Garin before losing out in a ‘Battle of the Bots’ championship match with Reilly Opelka, the tallest ATP Tour final in the Open Era. Read Houston Final Report & Watch Highlights.

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No. 47 David Goffin, +27
Former World No. 7 Goffin has struggled to find his form after returning from a knee injury at the start of the year, arriving at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech with a 6-9 record for the season. The Belgian surges back into the Top 50 this week, however, after clinching a sixth ATP Tour title at the ATP 250 event on the clay in Morocco. Goffin defeated three-time champion Pablo Andujar en route to the final, where he overcame Alex Molcan in three sets to lift a first tour-level trophy since February 2021. Read Marrakech Final Report & Watch Highlights.

No. 50 Alex Molcan, +15 (Career High)
Slovakia’s Molcan may have missed out on a maiden tour-level crown but the 24-year-old’s exploits in North Africa carry him into the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings for the first time. Molcan’s impressive run included upsets of three seeded opponents in Felix Auger-Aliassime, Botic van de Zandschulp and Laslo Djere, as he marched to a second ATP Tour final before being edged out by Goffin.

No. 79 Holger Rune, +12 (Career High)
A busy weekend for the #NextGenATP Dane sees him makes further inroads into the Top 100 at the tender age of 18. Rune lifted a fifth ATP Challenger Tour title in Sanremo, Italy on Saturday lunchtime after defeating Francesco Passaro in the championship match before hotfooting it to Monte Carlo for the first round of qualifying for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters later that day. There he overcame Radu Albot, before taking out Maxime Cressy on Sunday to qualify for the main draw at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 28 Frances Tiafoe, +2 (Career High)
No. 33 Tommy Paul, +1 (Career High)
No. 41 Botic van de Zandschulp, +2 (Career High)
No. 55 Federico Coria, +5 (Career High)
No. 95 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, +11 (Career High)

Casper Ruud is flying higher than ever entering the European clay-court season. At a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Rankings, the Norwegian is fresh off reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Miami.

Ruud will happily take a lot of confidence from that run moving onto his favourite surface. This week, he is the fourth seed at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

“It gives me confidence. It shows me I’m able to reach the final of ATP Masters 1000 events,” Ruud told ATPTour.com. “Since we started after the Covid break, I was able to reach three semis of Masters 1000s on clay, and was never was able to reach a final. So to be able to reach a final for the first time [at this level] was a good feeling.

“It’s always fun to play in a final, the most fun obviously is to win them. But to just be in the final and get that experience was something very exciting and motivating for the future, of course.”

Ruud explained why he feels some of the best clay-court players in the world are as good as they are on the surface.

Rafael Nadal
I have practised with him quite a bit and I think he never gives you room to breathe when you play against him on clay. All the shots he produces are very heavy to face because he puts a lot of topspin and they bounce very high. Any time you need to play a shot above shoulder height from the baseline or when you play groundstrokes, it’s tough. It’s tough to get good enough depth back when he plays these heavy shots, so he gets a chance many times to move forward and go for an aggressive shot.

He sets up the point very well and many times the same way. He likes to dominate points with his forehand and I think the majority of his clay-court career, he has been very successful playing his forehand heavy crosscourt to his opponent’s backhand, usually when he plays right-handed players. Most players struggle with his shots and it’s very normal because they’re very heavy. I think this is what makes him so successful.

He plays every point very, very strictly and with order, like it’s his last point. I have heard him say that many times before and that’s the reason he never gives you room to breathe. You don’t get too many free points from him in a match or when you play points [in practice]. With the clay, sometimes it’s more physically demanding because you play longer rallies and longer matches, and he’s there ready for it.

Novak Djokovic
He plays a little bit differently from Rafa. He plays a little bit further in to the court and the thing with Novak is that his backhand is so pure and so good, that even though many clay-court players like Rafa like to push the backhand of their opponent because it’s tough with the high bounce, with the heaviness, Novak stands against it better than anybody else because he has such good control with his backhand.

It makes it tough to find any holes in his game and his forehand is no weakness either, so he can produce winners and good defensive shots from both sides all the time. He has the package where you can’t really rest in any corner of the court when you play against him because either he plays with his backhand and he will push you with it and also with his forehand he can produce great angles and different shots.

Obviously he’s one of the best movers on Tour. He can get to certain balls and play defence like no other player, so I think that’s what makes him as tough as he is both on hard court and clay. But on clay, he is able to step into the court and take those heavy shots that you try to play at him a little bit more on the rise and play it with good depth back to you.

Dominic Thiem
Dominic is more similar to Rafa. He plays with great intensity and heavy shots, with both the forehand and the backhand, but especially the forehand. [I think] he puts a little more spin [on the forehand].

The backhand is also dangerous because he can do many things with it. He can slice it very well, he can play open stance with the one-handed backhand, which is not easy, and then he can also step in and rip it down the line very flat and aggressively. It’s tough to find spots where you can really rest if you have a tough rally because he has all the shots.

His kick serve is very, very good, which helps a lot on clay. He opens the court very well to set up big forehands and big groundstrokes. He’s quick, he moves around well, he makes you play tough, physical rallies from the baseline. He’s obviously one of the tougher players to play on clay and he has proved it. He has played the final of the French Open two times and won big tournaments on the surface.

Carlos Alcaraz
He can play on all surfaces because he plays aggressive, but he also plays with a decent amount of topspin — the forehand even more than the backhand. What impressed me last year when we played on clay was how aggressive he was able to stay and how far into the court he was able to hit most of his shots.

At the same time, like the others I’ve mentioned, he moves incredibly well. He can also play great defensive shots and counter-attack very well. He also has a good kick serve, which opens the court well.

Alexander Zverev
He’s one of the more successful clay-court players of the younger generation. He has won Madrid two times and he has won Rome as well. That’s a pretty good stat to have on clay and I think he doesn’t necessarily play with too much spin, but he returns very, very well. He stands further back most of the time and he doesn’t play heavy in terms of a lot of topspin, but he plays heavy shots because he produces good power, speed and depth pretty much all the time.

You don’t find any holes on the backhand side and of course he also serves well, so he gets some free points with his serve, which is nice on the surface, because usually you need to play more rallies if you don’t have a great serve. He serves well, he returns well and he plays with good depth pretty much all the time, so it’s tough to attack him. That’s where Sascha is dangerous on the surface.

* * *
Those are not all of the players Ruud feels are tough opponents on clay. In fact, one player who troubles the Norwegian might surprise you.

“I have a pretty bad record against Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Maybe he’s not a guy who is talked about too much,” Ruud said. “I also find Diego Schwartzman a tough player on clay. He moves very well, he puts a lot of balls back. His serve is quite tricky in a way and I think he spends a lot of hours on clay every year and likes to play on the surface. He’s beaten Rafa before on clay. Not too many players around the world have done that, but there are also other players who are very good on the surface.

“Stefanos Tsitsipas was a finalist last year at Roland Garros and I’ve played Matteo Berrettini a couple of times on clay, we’ve had some tough battles. Andrey Rublev also, even though you maybe don’t think of him as a good clay-court player, he plays very well and he made the final last year in Monte-Carlo and beat Rafa as well. There are a lot of guys who can actually play very well on the surface.”

It has been 13 months and two left foot surgeries since Stan Wawrinka has competed in a tour-level event, but the former World No. 3 is back at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Before his singles return Monday, the Swiss was brutally honest about the difficulty of his recovery.

“[It is] not a miracle, I wouldn’t say that, but it was very long and difficult, more than a year. I thought I would be [out] only a few weeks. It lasted a whole year with many moments of doubts. It was extremely long and tough,” Wawrinka said. “I really needed to have the willpower to come back, to have the strength to go through rehab and everything, and I’m very happy to be here now.”

After undergoing his first foot surgery last year on 25 March, Wawrinka wrote on social media, “I will be out for a few weeks but can’t wait to start practising again soon.” A couple of weeks later he posted a video of himself doing rehab at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. All seemed to be going well. On 2 May, he shared a picture of himself hitting his trademark one-handed backhand on the practice court.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka85)

But a devastating blow came for the 16-time tour-level titlist when in June he had to make another social media post from a hospital bed.

“Same place, different day, not where I wanted to be but still a smile on my face,” Wawrinka wrote.

The Swiss had underwent another foot surgery. Was he afraid he would never make it back?

“Of course there were those questions in my mind. I was afraid things wouldn’t happen the way I wanted them to happen, and when you have those difficult times and those doubts, you know you need to go through rehab to be able to live a normal daily life anyway,” Wawrinka said. “So in my mind, one way or the other, I knew I would want to come back. Maybe saying good-bye, having pain would be an option, but for the time being things are going well.

“I can practise a lot, which is good. I hope I’ll be able to do that the whole year.”

^{Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka play mini-tennis at Casino Square in Monte Carlo. Photo Credit: Stephane Danna/Realis}
Now 37 and outside the Top 200 in the ATP Rankings, Wawrinka knows he has to work his way back into form, and that it will not happen with a snap of his fingers. Two weeks ago, he competed at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella, where he lost in the first round against Swede Elias Ymer.

“Of course I’m far from being as fit as I want to. I need to work a lot physically and tennis-wise too,” Wawrinka said. “But this happens with tournaments, with matches, but I also am happy to be at that level right now compared to when I started playing again.”

Wawrinka knows competing at an event like the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is challenging, with the world’s best players in the draw. But it is also an opportunity for him to regain rhythm at the top level.

“Mainly what I need is practise with the best players, [to] practise a lot. I only started playing again at the end of the month of February, so I don’t have a lot of tennis under my belt,” Wawrinka said. “I have to go through this. My level is pretty good in practice, but of course I need to find also my game during matches. The puzzle is a bit complicated. Sometimes you need time before you are able to coordinate all this.

“So I need to be patient with myself. I need to try to do the right things and practise a lot and stay positive, even if sometimes I feel very frustrated, because I can see what I need to do and I can’t do it.”

The 2014 Monte Carlo champion will try to continue making strides in the right direction, starting with his first-round match Monday against Alexander Bublik. It helps that Wawrinka is making his tour-level at a venue with which he is quite familiar.

“It’s a place I like very much. I spend a lot of time here at the club to prepare myself, to practise. I do a lot of my preparations here. The weather is ideal. The conditions are perfect,” Wawrinka said. “I won this tournament in 2014, and it’s a pleasure to be back here.”