Not Djokovic, Tsitsipas or Sinner but "someone weird" will win Monte-Carlo Masters 2023, predicts Tennis analyst

Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner lead a packed field at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters in the absence of the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, both of whom pulled out of the Masters 1000 event.

With Stefanos Tsitispas and Djokovic being two-time former winners and Sinner coming fresh off a Miami Open final, the race to the title is heating up nicely.

Tennis observer and Monday's Match Analysis podcast host Grill Gorss, however, feels that none of the three players will come out on top in Monte-Carlo — instead putting his money on "somebody weird".

"Look, here's what I'll say about Monte-Carlo, I think somebody weird is probably going to win. I'm not high on Djokovic, I'm not high on Jannik Sinner. I'm not high on Stefanos Tistispas. I don't know why, I think somebody weird is gonna win," he said, speaking on the latest episode of his podcast.

Reasoning his assessment, Gross said early season momentum ceases to exist as players move to clay, a transition that he called a "nightmare".

"You have a lot of guys who are have played too much tennis and are coming back from Miami and that's a nightmare. That's way harder than going from Miami to India Wells, sorry, Indian Wells to Miami. To go deep at Indian Wells/Miami and then to play well at Monte Carlo. I think that's super tough," he stated.

Elaborating further, Gross said he was also concerned about the fitness level of some of the big title contenders — two-time defending champion Tsitsipas in particular.

"With Tsisipas you have health issues, that's what I'm concerned about. So somebody weird is my answer. I don't have a second favorite, I don't know," he opined.

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Monte-Carlo Masters 2023 draw: Djokovic and Sinner in same quarter, Tsitsipas anchors bottom half

Jannik Sinner may run into Novak Djokovic in the Monte-Carlo Masters quarterfinal.

Top seed Novak Djokovic finds himself on a collision course with Jannik Sinner in this year's Monte-Carlo Masters draw, which was released earlier in the week.

The duo have a few early obstacles each — the most notable being Lorenzo Musetti for the Serb and Hubert Hurkacz for the Italian — to take care of first, but an enticing last eight clash could be on the cards.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, anchors the bottom half at this year's Monte-Carlo Masters. The section also features the likes of Andrey Rublev, Andy Murray and Casper Ruud, among others.