QF Preview: Alcaraz, Sinner, Vacherot In Action

Storylines abound on quarter-final Friday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters as a blockbuster line-up from start to finish promises to serve up one of the best days of tennis this season to date.

Play begins at 11 a.m. local with Brazilian teen Joao Fonseca facing third seed Alexander Zverev in a first-time meeting. Fonseca’s monster forehand and Zverev’s imposing serve loom as the two biggest weapons in the match.

“I think clay is his best surface,” Zverev said. “He’s an up-and-coming talent and I’m excited to play him for the first time. I’m sure we’re going to play each other a lot more over the next couple of years.”

Fonseca, 19, is appearing in his first Masters 1000 quarter-final and is likely to work the angles with his big forehand should Zverev dig in deep behind the baseline.

Next up, Jannik Sinner looks to extend his Masters 1000 winning streak to 20 matches when he faces Felix Auger-Aliassime. Sinner will be hoping dizzy spells that affected him during his three-set win Thursday over Tomas Machac won’t be a factor in the match.

Sinner is looking to become the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2015 to sweep the year’s first three Masters 1000 titles as he continues his quest to wrestle No. 1 away from Carlos Alcaraz this week. Both Sinner and Alcaraz have spent 66 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings during their careers. Should they meet in the final, they will be playing for not only the title, but also World No. 1.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” Sinner said. “Felix is playing great and he’s especially good on this surface.”

Auger-Aliassime has lost his past four matches against Sinner, but did claim their only career clay meeting, in Madrid in 2022.

Our quarter-finals are locked in 🔒#RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/QNvQqVMdYE

— Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (@ROLEXMCMASTERS) April 9, 2026

Third match on Court Rainier III sees defending champion Carlos Alcaraz face the talented and unpredictable shotmaker Alexander Bublik. “Let’s see who hits the most drop shots,” Alcaraz quipped Thursday.

Like Sinner, Alcaraz suffered a second-set fadeout before rallying to a three-set win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Spaniard went 22-1 on the clay swing last year and is hoping to collect a ninth ATP Masters 1000 crown this week.

Alcaraz is also chasing his 300th match win Friday.

Bublik is no stranger to taking big scalps. He took out Sinner in Halle last year and has the confidence to believe he can also upset Alcaraz with an unpredictable game plan that will give the 22-year-old little rhythm. The eighth-seeded Kazakh has faced just one break point in two matches this week. He dropped serve against Gael Monfils in the first round but did not face a break point Thursday against Miami finalist Jiri Lehecka.

The final match of the day pits Valentin Vacherot against 2025 semi-finalist Alex de Minaur. Vacherot grew up practising at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and also has the advantage of having played under lights on centre court his past two matches, when conditions are much heavier than earlier in the day.

Vacherot found success with a series of brave net forays in his three-set win over Hubert Hurkacz Thursday, but moving forward against the defensive skills of the Australian World No. 6 carries risk. He is the first Monegasque to reach the quarter-finals here.

De Minaur earned his quarter-final berth Thursday after holding out 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Alexander Blockx in two tight sets.

Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour