Monte-Carlo update: Alejandro in the Semis...

Friday 11th April 2025

We were so close to getting a win-win Semi Final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this week…

Good afternoon. I’ve just finished watching Carlos Alcaraz v Arthur Fils. What a match.

Our Ones to Watch youngster Fils - backed at a top price of 66/1 this week - got very close to beating the star name and tournament favourite. But in the end, Alcaraz reeled him in. Very good signs for the future for the 20-year-old Frenchman there, though.

Had Fils come through that tight three-set battle with the world no.3, we’d have been looking at a win-win semi final in Monte-Carlo on Saturday. Instead, our 33/1 pick Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will now have a crack at Carlos, in an all-Spanish semi final.

• Our other Monte-Carlo Ones to Watch selection, 20/1 Holger Rune unfortunately had to pull out ill in the top half of the draw. Leaving the door open for a potential big-odds finalist from elsewhere in the pack, after top seed Alexander Zverev and big name Novak Djokovic were both sent packing early on in this section. On the opposite side of the draw, Davidovich Fokina is our last man standing…

After winning his quarter final this morning, the 25-year-old Alejandro spoke on court about becoming more ‘mature.’ That is always a Very Good Thing to hear when it comes to talented players with a reputation for being hot-headed/ mentally up and down. He’s certainly playing good tennis, and has done well here at the Country Club before - making the final in 2022.

If we are indeed looking at a new & improved Davidovich Fokina in 2025, then again - the signs are good for the future…

As ever, we’re on an exciting underdog - at big odds. Davidovich Fokina will play Alcaraz in the Monte-Carlo semi finals tomorrow.

Next week, you and I will have four more clay-court tournaments to shoot at. As the run-up to the French Open picks up pace…

Enjoy the tennis…

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Ones to Watch