The top half of the Monte-Carlo draw offers some especially intriguing quarterfinal matchups on Friday, including Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Lorenzo Musetti. In the other quarter, it’s Alex de Minaur vs. Grigor Dimitrov.
(13) Lorenzo Musetti vs. (6) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas and Musetti will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Friday. All five of their previous encounters have gone Tsitsipas’ way, including four on clay. It’s not all bad news for Musetti, however. Three of their four clay-court contests have gone the distance (including a five-setter at the 2022 French Open) and the only one that didn’t was a 7-5, 7-5 result at the 2023 Rome Masters.
It has been two years since they last faced each other and it would be fair to say that the playing field has leveled significantly during this time span. Musetti was outstanding last year, headlined by a semifinal run at Wimbledon and the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Tsitsipas won a third Monte-Carlo title but otherwise struggled in 2024. So far this week the Greek has ousted Jordan Thompson and Nuno Borges, while the Italian has defeated Bu Yunchaokete, Jiri Lehecka, and Matteo Berrettini. Tsitsipas lost in the quarterfinals the last time he was defending 1000 points in Monte-Carlo and it would not be big surprise of he suffers the same fate in 2025 at the hands of a confident opponent.
Pick: Musetti in 3
(15) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (8) Alex de Minaur
While Musetti capitalized on Alexander Zverev’s departure from the top of the bracket, Dimitrov took advantage of Novak Djokovic’s early exit. The 33-year-old Bulgarian went up against Alejandro Tabilo instead of Djokovic on Thursday and got past the Chilean 6-3, 3-6, 6-2–a result that was preceded by mostly routine victories over Nicolas Jarry and Valentin Vacherot. Dimitrov is now 7-1 in his last eight matches dating back to the Miami Masters.
Up next for the world No. 18 is a sixth meeting with De Minaur, who leads the head-to-head series 3-2 (all on hard courts). The 10th-ranked Aussie has won three of their last four matchups, two of which have come in straight sets. A red-hot De Minaur has already won 19 matches in 2025, including two in Monte-Carlo at the expense of Tomas Machac (3-6, 6-0, 6-3) and Daniil Medvedev (6-2, 6-2). Although the 26-year-old may not be at his absolute best on clay, he grew up playing on this surface and Dimitrov’s backhand slice won’t cause as much problems on it as it does on either grass or a slick hard court.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
