Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 2025, Monaco, ATP Masters 1000

[MargaretMcAleer]

Ben Shelton is too 'undisciplined' on a clay court, when he learns to be more patient and discipline he might win more matches
Foki leading 4-1 in the 3rd and deciding set
Well done Foki 6-1 in the 3rd set, defeating Shelton 67(2) 62 61
BTW I have Foki has a dark horse at MC this surface really suits his game ( I hope I havent hexed him in saying that )

 

[kskate2]

what happened to all that noise he was making in the 1st set? He was fist-pumping and screaming like he was giving birth. Again, his Dad has done as much as he can. It's time for a more seasoned coach to bring some discipline and rally tolerance to his game.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

what happened to all that noise he was making in the 1st set? He was fist-pumping and screaming like he was giving birth. Again, his Dad has done as much as he can. It's time for a more seasoned coach to bring some discipline and rally tolerance to his game.

How long have we been saying he needs a new coach, I think those 2 are tied at the hip? reminds me of Stef and his father in many ways, it took Stef ages to cut the apron strings of his dad

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I wonder at age 37, Fognini is thinking about retirement, he received a WC and The Dangerous One just handed him a bagel

 

[kskate2]

I'm sure it's crossed his mind. He may sneak out the back door instead of making an announcement.

 

[Moxie]

Very nice win by Matteo over Zed. Hard fought. They just said it's his first win over Top 2 player. Maybe he is back. He served for it at 5-4, but Zverev broke back, then the rebreak and finally served it out.

 

[don_fabio]

Very nice win by Matteo over Zed. Hard fought. They just said it's his first win over Top 2 player. Maybe he is back. He served for it at 5-4, but Zverev broke back, then the rebreak and finally served it out.

Funny how Zverev just said a few days ago that him, Carlos, Sinner and Novak are now the guys to beat, favorites and all that, but he can't go past Berrettini. Not to take anything away from Matteo, but this is typical of Zverev. He is in a slump since that beatdown in AO.

Glad for Matteo, he is playing injury free for a while now.

 

[kskate2]

Funny how Zverev just said a few days ago that him, Carlos, Sinner and Novak are now the guys to beat, favorites and all that, but he can't go past Berrettini. Not to take anything away from Matteo, but this is typical of Zverev. He is in a slump since that beatdown in AO.

Glad for Matteo, he is playing injury free for a while now.

This has been the case for awhile. When he went down to the golden swing and couldn't win a 250 where he was the top seed really fed the locker room confidence. No one fears him anymore. It's completely in his head now. Red will be back in a matter of weeks and Zed will still be #1 seed in these remaining tourneys until then. He always plays Munich. It has been upgraded to 500 I think. If he can't win at home, he will get blasted in Madrid/Rome and he's defending a win from one of them.

 

[Moxie]

Funny how Zverev just said a few days ago that him, Carlos, Sinner and Novak are now the guys to beat, favorites and all that, but he can't go past Berrettini. Not to take anything away from Matteo, but this is typical of Zverev. He is in a slump since that beatdown in AO.

Glad for Matteo, he is playing injury free for a while now.

This is why I tell you he has too much arrogance. He could do with some of Rafa's humility and just say he's got to work to do well, that the competition is tough. People made fun of Rafa for always saying every opponent was going to be a challenge, especially on clay, but there is value in playing that way.

And speaking of the Clown Princes, Tsitsipas, defending champ, dropped the first set to Jordan, though he just got the early break in the 2nd.

 

[mrzz]

I wonder at age 37, Fognini is thinking about retirement, he received a WC and The Dangerous One just handed him a bagel

N' I told ya about Rune and Borges too...

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Zverev needs to find a Sports Physcharist ASAP or if he has one, needs to look for another one, his game has gone to the 'dogs' talking to the media and saying I dont know why I lose matches when I have been in front?, he won the 1st set 62 over Matteo and then? he has gone from bad to worse,
BTW Matteo has move up to No 33 in the live rankings
Zverev has to be one of the Worst No 2 ranked players in the sports history!
Zverev has won only 6 matches since the AO this year!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

N' I told ya about Rune and Borges too...

Rune retired? lol! I think The Fog needs to retire permanently after his loss yesterday, he has been playing challengers, maybe he dosent want to go home full time as he now has 3 kiddies

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

With Zverev's loss in Monte Carlo Jannik Sinner will make his return in Rome as the World No 1 ( thank goodness at least he has a brain)

 

[kskate2]

Very nice win by Matteo over Zed. Hard fought. They just said it's his first win over Top 2 player. Maybe he is back. He served for it at 5-4, but Zverev broke back, then the rebreak and finally served it out.

The moment got to him when he was serving both times. Because Zed is a headcase, he was able to secure victory the 2nd time. I was really impressed w/ his variety in this match. He won the longer rallies in the 3rd set. He actually thought about point construction and used his BH weakness to disrupt Zed's rhythm. He's getting better. There's still the off point w/ questionable shot selection but I think he'll get better there too w/ more matches.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh it was good while it lasted Stef got the break over Thompson in the 3rd set, lets see if he can consolidate, he does and leads 5-2 in the 3rd set
Stef won 46 64 62
Just noticed on the playing schedule Stef is playing doubles with his brother in this tournament, tomorrow
BTW Stef has now won 19 of his last 20 matches in Monte Carlo

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Some fun match ups tomorrow,
Djokovic v Tabilo, they have played once last year in Rome and Tabilo won in straight sets
Alcaraz v The Dangerous One, Carlos leads their H2H 2-0, though with his current play he cant take The Dangerous One lightly
Rublev v Monfils watching for the Wow Factor Marat also Rublev's tennis
Etcheverry v Davidovich Fokina, Foki is my Dark horse in this tournament.

 

[El Dude]

Zverev has to be one of the Worst No 2 ranked players in the sports history!

I had to find a list, of course, here are the guys who've maxed out as #2 since 1973:

Manuel Orantes
Ken Rosewall
Guillermo Vilas
Arthur Ashe
Michael Stich
Goran Ivanisevic
Michael Chang
Petr Korda
Alex Corretja
Magnus Norman
Tommy Haas
Alexander Zverev
Casper Ruud

Without assigning any specific metric, just looking at this list, I'd say he's a better player than about half those guys. Definitely better than Korda, Corretja, Norman, Haas, and Ruud. Not as good as Rosewall (who would have been number one at various points before '73), Ashe, and Vilas. So somewhere in the mix with these guys: Orantes, Stich, Ivanisevic, Chang.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I had to find a list, of course, here are the guys who've maxed out as #2 since 1973:

Manuel Orantes
Ken Rosewall
Guillermo Vilas
Arthur Ashe
Michael Stich
Goran Ivanisevic
Michael Chang
Petr Korda
Alex Corretja
Magnus Norman
Tommy Haas
Alexander Zverev
Casper Ruud

Without assigning any specific metric, just looking at this list, I'd say he's a better player than about half those guys. Definitely better than Korda, Corretja, Norman, Haas, and Ruud. Not as good as Rosewall (who would have been number one at various points before '73), Ashe, and Vilas. So somewhere in the mix with these guys: Orantes, Stich, Ivanisevic, Chang.

Thanks for the list,
Though I cannot get my head around that Zverev has won just 6 matches since the AO this year.

 

[El Dude]

Thanks for the list,
Though I cannot get my head around that Zverev has won just 6 matches since the AO this year.

Yeah, he's really struggling. I think the AO broke him. Not saying he can't build himself back, but he's not the player he was in 2024.

Sascha's career shows some rises and falls. After his early development, he broke out in 2017, plateauing for a couple years into 2019 (he was in the top 5 from Sept 2017 to Aug 2019). Then he had a down-turn in late 2019 and 2020, before rising again in 2021. Then he fell off again in late 2022 through '23, before rising in 2024. So ups and downs.

We can see this with his title count (big titles in bold):

2016: 1
2017: 5 (2)
2018: 4 (2)
2019: 1
2020: 2
2021: 6 (4)
2022: 0
2023: 2
2024: 2 (2)
2025: 0

Interesting to note that he's had two two-year gaps in which he didn't win a big title. 2021 was his best year. Hard to say second best, because even though 2017-18 looks better than 2024, he fared better in Slams in 2024.

In a way, 2024 was a return to his form of 2021, but it also looks like he could be sliding to another down-turn.

 

[Moxie]

Yeah, he's really struggling. I think the AO broke him. Not saying he can't build himself back, but he's not the player he was in 2024.

Sascha's career shows some rises and falls. After his early development, he broke out in 2017, plateauing for a couple years into 2019 (he was in the top 5 from Sept 2017 to Aug 2019). Then he had a down-turn in late 2019 and 2020, before rising again in 2021. Then he fell off again in late 2022 through '23, before rising in 2024. So ups and downs.

We can see this with his title count (big titles in bold):

2016: 1
2017: 5 (2)
2018: 4 (2)
2019: 1
2020: 2
2021: 6 (4)
2022: 0
2023: 2
2024: 2 (2)
2025: 0

Interesting to note that he's had two two-year gaps in which he didn't win a big title. 2021 was his best year. Hard to say second best, because even though 2017-18 looks better than 2024, he fared better in Slams in 2024.

In a way, 2024 was a return to his form of 2021, but it also looks like he could be sliding to another down-turn.

Yes, but, he had that awful ankle injury at RG in 2022 and the recovery wasn't smooth, so that sort of explains the gap in performance in '22-'23, right? Nor sure what explains the paucity of titles in 2019-20, because he was aged 21-23. Arguably, those should be prime years. The injury comeback is different, I'd say.

His birthday is in 12 days. He'll be 28. He's getting to be a little long in the tooth for having such a slump, if he doesn't shake himself out of it soon. I agree that losing in the final at the AO, and with such a poor showing, did break him somewhat. But, like Medvedev's similar, that's on him, too. An athlete has to put losses behind them, including bad ones. It all adds up to why I don't like his chances of winning a Major.