Day 4 at the Monte-Carlo Masters will see who can step up into the favorite position now that Novak Djokovic was surprisingly dumped out of the competition by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. One of the key men in the tournament, and the remaining highest seed, Alexander Zverev takes to the clay today. How will the German and the rest of the players do on Day 4? Keep across the LWOT previews and predictions to see who we think will win.
ATP Monte-Carlo Day 4 Predictions
Cameron Norrie vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Head-to-head: Norrie 1-3 Ramos-Vinolas
This will be a really interesting match-up. It could work as a real yardstick for the improvement that seems to have occurred in Cameron Norrie as each of his defeats to the Spaniard has happened on the dirt. The last of which was only last season in the Estoril final. At that stage Norrie had still yet to win an ATP tournament, he now has 4 titles, including at Indian Wells. It strikes me that Norrie will not want to let his momentum slide and, indeed, will see the clay court season as a way of him improving his ranking point total as regard to his 2021 haul. I am siding with the Brit in this clash to finally get the better of Ramos-Vinolas on clay.
Prediction: Norrie in 3
Hubert Hurkacz vs Pedro Martinez
Head-to-head: Hurkacz 1-0
Hurkacz really demonstrated his improvement and his standing near the top of the game in his first match against Hugo Dellien. WHilst the Bolivian isn’t a top player, he certainly knows his way around a clay court and for the Pole to come through against him felt like a win that he may not have achieved last season. However, the difficulty is definitely ramped up here. Martinez’s last clay-court tournament was a victorious one in Santiago in February so he is a high quality player on the dirt. Martinez’s form and ability I would rank higher than Hurkacz’s in these conditions so I will side with the Spaniard here.
Prediction: Martinez in 2
Pablo Carreno Busta vs Alexander Bublik
Head-to-head: Carreno Busta 2-0
The Spaniard very much has a surface advantage here against the Kazakh. Though often stereotyped as a clay courter, Carreno Busta is equally effective on a slow hard court. However, the stats do back up the fact that Carreno Busta has his highest win percentage on clay. Bublik, however, is by far at his worst on clay. That lack of comfort on the dirt is enough for me to feel confident in predicting that Pablo Carreno Busta will progress here.
Prediction: Carreno Busta in 2
Federico Delbonis vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-head: Zverev 2-0
Well, spoiler alert, I will be predicting Zverev to progress here. However, I will also say that Delbonis is likely to give Zverev a very good game. He emerged victorious as a big outsider against Jaume Munar in the opening round and looking at their previous meetings, each set has been very closely fought. Zverev has still had the edge and come out on top in these battles though and I think this match could pan out in a very similar way and, ultimately, a similar result.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
