Who is not playing at Monte-Carlo Masters? Novak Djokovic leads absentee list from typical clay court season opener
ATP
The Monte-Carlo Masters is due to be played starting on April 6 but there will be a multitude of high profile absentees who will not make it to the typical clay court season opener. We take a look at those today.
Taking place at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, 56 players will play in the main draw but while Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will be involved in Monte-Carlo, certain other big names have pulled out and more than usual.
Alexander Zverev is seeded third behind the two main leading lights in men's tennis but Novak Djokovic is somewhat of a surprise absentee. Surprising as he often plays Monte-Carlo and has done every year since 2011, that usually and Geneva form part of a schedule usually done out of panic to get himself ready often after a poor year prior in the last few.
Fritz, Draper among others out of Monte-Carlo
Taylor Fritz has also decided not to play albeit his is injury related. He was due to be seeded eighth but he has been struggling with a long term knee injury. Jack Draper also similarly won't play as the World No.25 doesn't seem to be back to full throttle yet either after deciding with form again after his long term injury woes.
While Sebastian Korda similarly has struggled for some time with injury and the World No.42 was the next to withdraw from the tournament. But they have been joined by further withdrawals in the form of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Jaume Munar.
Davidovich Fokina was set to be seeded 14th and faces a huge ranking drop as a result of this. He reached the semi-finals last year so was due to defend that run. The Spaniard who finished runner-up in 2022 beat fifth seed Jack Draper in the third round and Alexei Popyrin but he then fell to eventual winner Alcaraz in straight sets.
But Davidovich Fokina who lost in the second round of Miami will now drop out of the top 20. Jaume Munar also withdrew from the tournament but hasn't played since February and doesn't defend too much anyway as he lost in the first round of qualifying 12 months ago.
Withdrawals Monte-Carlo Masters 2026
| Withdrawn Player | Replacement |
| Novak Djokovic | Sebastian Baez |
| Taylor Fritz | Terence Atmane |
| Jack Draper | Daniel Altmaier |
| Sebastian Korda | Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard |
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | Márton Fucsovics |
| Jaume Munar | Kamil Majchrzak |
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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