World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur at the 2024 ATP Monte-Carlo tennis tournament soon. De Minaur has enjoyed a much better season to date on tour in 2024. He is the No. 5 player on year-to-date rankings while Djokovic is now the No. 10 player from the same perspective. Bettors will find out who is playing better right now as they face one another in a quarterfinal match, one where Djokovic is priced at -450 (bet365) to win. My Djokovic vs de Minaur prediction is that the latter player will win this match from the point of view of game handicaps.
Schedule of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Novak Djokovic vs Alex de Minaur Head-to-Head Series
Djokovic and de Minaur have not played one another all that much. The Djokovic vs de Minaur h2h is 1-1. De Minaur did win their most recent match. Furthermore, the match was played this season. That should do something to instill some confidence in anyone that wants to take a poke at the Aussie at +333 (bet365). He beat Djokovic at the 2024 United Cup early in the season. Previously, they had played at the 2023 Australian Open, a match Djokovic won in straight sets.
The Draw: Right-click/Open the link in a new tab for the draw for the 2024 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
Novak Djokovic's Recent Matches and Results
Djokovic beat Lorenzo Musetti in the last round, posting a 7-5, 6-3 victory over the Italian. Previously, Djokovic was sharp against Roman Safiullin 6-1, 6-2 in the second round in Monaco. The Serb has made a convincing start to his clay-court season, going 4-0 on his sets so far. Otherwise, Djokovic had not been active since March 11th, when he lost to Luca Nardi in the Indian Wells Masters.
Last year, Djokovic entered four clay-court tournaments. His season was without major highlights on clay -- until he won the 2024 French Open final. He has not looked like his amazing self this season so far. However, you do know he can turn things on at any moment. Bettors have to be wondering if we will be looking at a Djokovic vs Sinner final in Monaco this weekend.
Novak Djokovic
The stats below will not include the results from Monaco 2024.
Serving ability: No. 11/clay/last 52 weeks
Return-of-serve ability: No. 4/clay/last 52 weeks
Alex de Minaur's Recent Matches and Results
De Minaur has played three matches so far at the 2024 Monte Carlo Masters. He is 6-1 on sets played.
The Australian won his last match in straight sets over Alexei Popyrin. The line score of 6-3, 6-4 is a confident result for de Minaur, as Popyrin has shown some signs of improvement lately.
Previously, De Minaur won his second-round match over big-serving Tallon Griekspoor in a three-set result. To open his tournament, de Minaur defeated Stan Warinka. The line score in that match was 6-3, 6-0. De Minaur should not be worse for wear for having played three matches to Djokovic's two, as the Aussie wins have been fairly routine in Monaco.
Last month in the USA, the Australian player was fairly competitive in both Indian Wells and Miami. In late February, he claimed the Acapulco title through a difficult draw that included Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jack Draper, and Casper Ruud. De Minaur also made the Rotterdam final earlier this season, a match that he lost to Jannik Sinner. We have seen a stronger version of de Minaur this season relative to seasons in the past.
But his clay-court results from last season are not encouraging for those who are taking a look at backing him. The Aussie simply did not have many notable results. This upcoming match is where we can look to see if de Minaur's hard court success this season will transfer over to clay. Even if he has a competitive loss against Djokovic, then it could be held to mean that he, de Minaur, is poised for some decent clay results this season in upcoming events.
Djokovic vs de Minaur Prediction: de Minaur +4.5 games
I think bettors should be happy to have de Minaur at +4.5 (bet365) and odds of +100. The Aussie beat Djokovic in their last match. Although the result was on clay, de Minaur has shown with his start in Monte Carlo that he's a bigger deal on the surface this year than last year. With the plus odds too hard to turn away, de Minaur at +4.5 on game handicaps is my recommendation.
De Minaur vs Djokovic prediction: Draw at the 2024 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
Ugo Humbert will face Casper Ruud in the other quarterfinal in this section of the draw. The winner will face the winner of the Djokovic vs de Minaur match in the semifinal. Looking ahead, there could be a No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown coming as Djokovic and de Minaur are both still alive in the Monte-Carlo draw.
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