Monte Carlo Masters Draw and tournament preview

Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka launch the 2015 edition of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters

The clay season is upon us and the best players in the world have descended in the picturesque Monte Carlo. The draw for the tournament is announced and two of the top five – Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will not be seen in action over the next week.

Djokovic will look to continue his impressive run

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is in terrific form coming into Monte Carlo having won the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami titles. He has a first round bye and could face Spaniard Nicolas Almagro or a qualifier in the second round. Almagro took out Rafael Nadal in Barcelona last year, but it will be a tough ask for him to get the better of Djokovic this time around.

2014 French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis could be the Serb’s third round opponent. The 8-time Grand Slam champion could face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Goffin or Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals. Fans can expect a mouth watering Djokovic – Nadal semifinal clash.

Djokovic is aiming to beome the first man to win the first three Masters 1000 titles of the season.

Tough draws for Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka

Second seed Roger Federer, a runner-up here last year opens up against Jeremy Chardy or a qualifier in the second round. Chardy has beaten Federer in their only clay court match. Federer missed Miami to concentrate on the clay court season and the draw here hasn’t helped him much. The 17-time Grand Slam champion could face Gael Monfils in the third round. The Frenchman beat Federer in the Davis Cup final quite convincingly.

If the Swiss gets past Monfils, he might face his compatriot and defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. Milos Raonic or Tomas Berdych await him in the semis before a final clash against Djokovic or Nadal. Federer has a tough road ahead of him as he looks to capture his first Monte Carlo title.

Nadal has been struggling for form this season and the draw in Monte Carlo doesn’t help his cause either. The 8-time champion here opens against Dominic Theim, who beat Wawrinka on clay last year. His third round opponent could be Martin Klizan, who beat him in Beijing last year or the big serving American John Isner.

If he manages to get past that, a quarterfinals rematch is on the cards against David Ferrer. It was Ferrer who took out Nadal in Monte Carlo and is high on confidence this year after winning three titles. If Nadal solves Ferrer puzzle, he will be up against World No. 1 Djokovic in the semifinals. It was Djokovic who ended Nadal’s impressive 46-match winning streak on his way to winnning the title here in 2013.

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka has a difficult task if he has to defend his first Masters 1000 title. The 2014 Australian Open champion could face Jiri Vesely or Juan Monaco in the second round. Rio Open runner-up Fabio Fognini or Grigor Dimitrov could be his third round opponent before a potential rematch with Federer in the last eight.

First round matchups

There are plenty of exciting first round matches lined up as well. Borna Coric will be making his Monte Carlo debut against Alexandr Dolgopolov, Thiem takes on Lucas Pouille, with the winner set to face Nadal in the second round. Tommy Robredo will start off against Andreas Seppi in the first round as well.

It promises to be an exciting week of tennis as Monte Carlo starts the countdown for the French Open.