May 28, 2022; Paris, France; Daniil Medvedev acknowledges the crowd after winning his match against Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) on day seven of the French Open at Stade Roland-Garros.

tennis

ATP Monte Carlo Masters 2025 Draw: What Are the Best Round-1 Matches in Monte Carlo?

Who will win the Monte Carlo title this year?

May 28, 2022; Paris, France; Daniil Medvedev acknowledges the crowd after winning his match against Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) on day seven of the French Open at Stade Roland-Garros.

The main draw at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters 2025 begins on Sunday, April 6 at the Monte Carlo Country Club. After the announcement of the draw on Friday, the top seeds have learnt their fates at this year’s coveted competition. But before that, there are plenty of mouth-watering Round-1 encounters to tingle the tennis taste buds of fans. Some of the world’s best players will feature in the opening round at the French city.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the defending champion at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, having won the title for a third time in 2024. Andrey Rublev, the man he defeated in the final, is also in the draw this year. One of the noteworthy omissions is World No. 1 Jannik Sinner – who is serving a temporary suspension. In his absence, Alexander Zverev will assume the role of being the top seed.

The Monte Carlo Masters has a long tradition in the tennis world – the competition has been running for well over 100 years now. Rafael Nadal is the most titled athlete in Monte Carlo – having won the tournament on 11 occasions including eight straight trophies between 2005-2012. His historic run was ended by Novak Djokovic (who is also playing this year) in the 2013 final.

ATP Monte Carlo Masters 2025 – Best Round-1 Matches

In spite of all the top seeds receiving a bye in Round-1, there are still some blockbuster battles to look forward to at the Monte Carlo Masters. Some of the best players to feature include Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Grigor Dimitrov and many more. Here’s all you need to know about the top encounters you need to bookmark in Round-1:

Daniil Medvedev (9) vs Karen Khachanov

After getting knocked out of the Miami Masters in the Round of 64, Daniil Medvedev returns to the clay – which hasn’t necessarily been a happy hunting ground for him. His job doesn’t get any easier, as the powerful Karen Khachanov awaits in Round-1. The former World No. 8 has had a patchy 2025 season.

Grigor Dimitrov (15) vs Nicolas Jarry

Bulgarian starlet Grigor Dimitrov can be proud of his American hard court swing. He lost to two top players in the form of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, managing to reach a semifinal along the way. Meanwhile, Nicolas Jarry headed straight to Bucharest after Miami, but failed to make an impact.

Ben Shelton (11) vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

Ben Shelton will be partially out of his comfort zone when he moves to the season of red dirt. A powerhouse who loves big serves and pounding groundstrokes, the slower surface will test him. Coming up against a clay court specialist who grew up in Spain will only make things more nightmarish for the 11th seed. ‘Foki’ is also a former runner-up at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Holger Rune (10) vs Nuno Borges

In a battle of generations, the Round of 64 will see Danish prodigy Holger Rune looking to advance into Round-3 vs Portugal’s Nuno Borges. The 28-year-old reached the Top-30 at the end of 2024, which was his breakthrough season. Rune is also in fairly good form, having reached the final in Indian Wells and only narrowly losing to Reilly Opelka in Miami.

The 118th edition of the #RolexMonteCarloMasters has officially begun 🏆@StefTsitsipas @montecarlobay pic.twitter.com/Hm3dVBS57A
— Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (@ROLEXMCMASTERS) April 5, 2025

Who will win the 2025 Monte Carlo Masters title? We will know in a week’s time!

ATP

Daniil Medvedev

Holger Rune

Monte Carlo Masters

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.