Jannik Sinner is the most in-form ATP player at the moment, and the young Italian star plans to win his first Monte-Carlo Masters, which will start next week. Sinner is coming off an eventful March, as he won the Indian Wells for the first time in his career, and he followed it up with another triumph in the Miami Open to become only the eighth man in history to complete the Sunshine Double.
The Monte-Carlo Masters 2026 odds expect him to make a deep run in the first clay-court event of the year, with Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Lorenzo Mussetti among some of the other favourites. Speaking of Alcaraz, the Spaniard didn’t have a great March, so he’s determined to bounce back. And then, two Top 10 players recently announced that they will pull out of the tournament.
Here are some of the latest Monte-Carlo Masters 2026 updates, courtesy of SBOTOP.
Sinner closing in on Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have yet to lock horns in 2026, but their rivalry at the top of the ATP rankings is heating up, with the former closing in on the latter after a relentless month of March. Entering the Indian Wells Masters, Alcaraz led Sinner by 3,150 points, but the Italian turned the tables by winning the event. And it helped that Alcaraz lost to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals before his Round of 32 exit in the Miami Open.
After Sinner won the Miami Open, he closed the gap between himself and World No. 1 Alcaraz, with only 1,190 points separating them as of this writing. The Italian became the first male Sunshine Double winner since Roger Federer in 2017, and he has now become only the third player to win three consecutive Masters 1000 titles, having also won the Paris Masters last year, joining Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Sinner made his Monte-Carlo Masters debut in 2021. At the time, he was unseeded but defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round before losing to Novak Djokovic. A year later, he reached the quarter-finals, losing to Alexander Zverev. He reached the semi-finals in 2023 and 2024 and was absent last year.
Alcaraz has more time to prepare for clay
Following his earlier-than-expected exit in the Miami Open, Carlos Alcaraz went to Murcia, already preparing for the clay-court swing, which might give him the edge ahead of the Masters 1000 tournament.
Alcaraz made his Monte-Carlo Masters debut in 2022, losing to Sebastian Korda in the second round as the eighth seed. After missing the 2023 and 2024 editions, the Spaniard won his first title in 2025. One can argue Alcaraz is the favourite (despite his recent form) as he has proven himself to be the best clay-court player on the ATP Tour. And let’s not forget that the 22-year-old won the first Grand Slam of the season – the Australian Open – last February.
After the Monte-Carlo Masters, Alcaraz also plans to defend his Italian Open and French Open titles. Because of the short turnaround between tournaments, the Spaniard will find it difficult to retain his crowns this year.
With Sinner closing in, Alcaraz needs to emulate the form he found on the clay-court swing last year. He often states that the clay is not his favourite surface, but Alcaraz holds an incredibly strong record, registering a 103-19 win-loss card in his career thus far.
Alcaraz will be defending 4,300 points across the upcoming clay-court swing, which could be pivotal in the battle at the top of the ATP rankings. On Monday, he’ll begin his 65th week as World No. 1, one shy of levelling Sinner’s 66 weeks.
Djokovic and Fritz continue to deal with nagging injury
Novak Djokovic has officially withdrawn from this year’s Monte-Carlo Masters, as the two-time champion continues to deal with a right shoulder injury that has also caused him to withdraw from the Miami Open earlier this month. The 38-year-old star hopes to be 100-per cent fit come the Madrid Open, which will be in the third week of April.
The Serb, ranked fourth in the ATP rankings, started the season by reaching his record-extending 11th Australian Open final, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic also competed in singles and doubles at the Indian Wells Masters, where he both exited in the Round of 16. Fellow Top 10 player Taylor Fritz is also out of this year’s Monte-Carlo Masters due to injury in the wake of his fourth-round loss to Jiri Lehecka at the Miami Open. The World No. 8 is next scheduled to compete at the BMW Open in Munich.
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