Who will win the Monte Carlo Masters? Preview of the 2019 semi-finals

 

It’s down to the final four in the glamorous principality of Monte Carlo on the south coast of France, with three surprising semi finalists and one that will shock no-one. But who will go in the triumph on the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters?

 

The most exciting aspect of this year’s Monte Carlo Masters has been the continued rise of what are still called the ‘Next Gen’ of world class tennis players. Maybe we should be calling them the ‘Now Gen’ because this large group of players are now consistently reaching the final stages of the biggest ATP tournaments and are regularly toppling the old guard along the way. This week Daniil Medvedev has reached the final four to continue the rise of a large group of young players currently showing more experienced players that they won’t be having it all their own way for much longer.

Here, tennishead previews the final four in the 2019 mens singles tournament at the Monte Carlo Masters:

 

 

Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB)

He’s Serbian, he’s in the semi finals of Monte Carlo, he hasn’t lost a set and he beat Dominic Thiem along the way. No it’s not Novak Djokovic, it’s Dusan Lajovic. This 28 year old is ranked 48 in the World but his recent form has been very good having beaten Kei Nishikori in Miami plus an incredible run of victories here to overcome David Goffin and Thiem without dropping a set.

Medvedev has also been in great form scoring wins over Tsitsipas and Djokovic along the way.

These two have played each other once before but on an indoor hard court in Medvedev’s home country of Russia where unsurprisingly he overcame the Serb easily in two sets.

So what can we read into this huge match for both players? Not a lot in all honestly, apart from the fact that Lajovic will continue to play his counter attacking style forcing Medvedev to attack the ball to win points. A classic clay encounter which we predict Medvedev will win.

 

 

Rafa Nadal (ESP) vs Fabio Foginin (ITA)

Quite remarkably, Fognini has actually beaten Nadal twice before on outdoor clay courts back in 2015 but this was during a slump in form for Nadal which probably won’t have much impact on this upcoming match.

Nadal has looked imperious this week not losing a set and destroying his opponents with his usual style of play on the red dirt. Fognini on the other hand has not had an easy ride to this point of the tournament including two 3-set matches. But he will be full of confidence which is crucial for Fognini himself but also crucial when you have to face Nadal on a clay court, especially in Monte Carlo.

Nadal has an 11-3 winning record over the Italian and so we see Nadal winning this encounter, but if Fognini can start well it’s possible he could sneak the first set before Nadal takes control.

Look ahead to 2019 with our guide to every tournament on the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour and the ITF Tour

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