Novak Djokovic escapes trap against Lorenzo Musetti, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev take the door

The Serbian had to fight to win, while the world numbers 4 and 5 were eliminated from the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo on Thursday in the round of 16.

Heads start to roll, but Novak Djokovic holds on. While, in the top 10 of the ATP rankings, only Carlos Alcaraz (forfeit) and Andrey Rublev (eliminated yesterday by Alexei Popyrin) were missing in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, two big names took the door , Thursday April 11, while Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner did not tremble.

Novak Djokovic gets his revenge

Breaking the world number 1 in the first round, Lorenzo Musetti (24th) announced the color from the start of the match. The Italian sold his skin dearly against a Novak Djokovic not at his best physically (7-5, 6-3), but experienced enough to accelerate at the right moments: first to break the break, then to pocket the first set as soon as the The opportunity presented itself on the opposing service. Before taking advantage of his opponent’s excitement in serving to pocket the second set and join Alex De Minaur (11th) in the quarter-finals.

Without shining, the Serbian takes his revenge against the one who eliminated him at the same stage of the tournament last year. Lorenzo Musetti alternated moments of grace and too penalizing air gaps, hampered by a first service that was neither reliable enough (54% success) nor efficient enough (60% of points won behind his first ball). Opposite, Novak Djokovic used his experience on important points to convert four of his five break points.

Medvedev takes the door, Sinner does not tremble

A former world number 1 has left the tournament. Too passive and dominated by the power of his opponent, Daniil Medvedev did not play tennis worthy of his rank (4th) Thursday, beaten in less than two hours (6-3, 7-5) by Karen Khachanov (17th) . The latter took advantage of the nervousness of the recent finalist of the Australian Open, who conceded no less than nine break points in two sets, and made a whopping eight double faults and 19 unforced errors. Daniil Medvedev leaves the tournament one round earlier than last year (eliminated in the quarter-finals by Holger Rune). Karen Khachanov will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.

Jannik Sinner continues to make a strong impression. The world number 2, winner of the Australian Open in January, played against Jan-Lennard Struff (25th) to win in 1h18 (6-4, 6-2). Faced with an opponent who never managed to settle on the serve (only 44% of first serves), the Italian showed himself to be opportunistic and very efficient on his own plays: 76% of points won on his serve and only one break point conceded. He will meet Holger Rune or Grigor Dimitrov in the next round.

Faller of Zverev, Tsitsipas was scared

Furthermore, in the shock of the day, Stefanos Tsitsipas (12th) dominated Alexander Zverev (5th) after two very close sets (7-5, 7-6). He conceded the first break points, all saved, before winning the first set. The Greek was also scared when he saw Zverev come back together after leading 5-0 in the second set, but ended up winning in the tie-break. The double winner of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 (2021 and 2022) rarely failed on important points (8 break points saved out of 10) and relied on an excellent first ball (81% of points won after the first service).

Earlier in the afternoon, the Australian Alex De Minaur (11th) held his place to take out his compatriot Alexei Popyrin, who fell to defending champion Andrey Rublev in the previous round, in two sets (6-3, 6- 4). He will meet Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.