De Minaur, Djokovic seeded for Monte-Carlo rematch

Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur is on track to meet former world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monaco for the second year in a row if each hold seed this week.

Both have been drawn in the second quarter of the draw at the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year, with Djokovic the third seed and de Minaur seeded eighth.

The pair met in the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2024, and with top-eight seeds receiving byes in the first round, the pair need to win just two matches each to meet in the last eight again.

It would be the fourth meeting between the two, with Djokovic leading their head-to-head 2-1, including a victory in last year’s Monte-Carlo clash, 7-5, 6-4.

Djokovic and de Minaur have tricky paths to make it to the quarter-finals this year, however.

The Serbian will face either three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka or clay-court specialist Alejandro Tabilo in his opening match, with No.15 seed Grigor Dimitrov likely waiting in the third round.

De Minaur, on the other hand, opens against either Tomas Machac or Sebastian Baez, with No.9 seed and former No.1 Daniil Medvedev a possible third-round opponent.

Top seed Alexander Zverev, three-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and 2023 finalist Holger Rune are all packed into the first quarter of the draw in Monte-Carlo, along with Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

Whoever advances will face the winner of Djokovic and de Minaur in the semi-finals should that match eventuate.

In the bottom half of the draw, 2025 Indian Wells champion Jack Draper finds himself in the same quarter as last year’s runner up Casper Ruud.

World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz lurks in the fourth quarter as well, alongside No.7 seed Andrey Rublev and French veteran Gael Monfils.

Tennis betting sites are yet to release odds for the Monte-Carlo Masters, but based off the draw and the latest French Open betting odds, Alcaraz will be the heavy favourite to win.

The Spaniard is priced at $2 by BetOnline to win the French Open in May, which is a fair barometer of how leading bookmakers will set their Monte-Carlo Masters odds once qualifying is complete.

De Minaur sits well back on the 12th line of betting ahead of the year’s next major, and will be a significant underdog heading into this tournament as well.

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