The Monte Carlo Masters has been hit by another double withdrawal as Jack Draper and Sebastian Korda have become the latest players to pull out of the clay-court tournament.
The first ATP Masters 1000 event on clay will run from 5 to 12 April at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and it will feature seven of the top-10 players in the ATP Rankings.
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion and the top seed with Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Alex de Minaur, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Bublik completing the top eight.
The biggest name missing from that list is, of course, tennis great Novak Djokovic as tournament organisers confirmed last week that the two-time champion would not feature in the 2026 edition.
It wasn’t the biggest surprise as Djokovic also skipped the Miami Open, but it will be the first time since 2011 that he won’t be in the main draw of the Monte Carlo Masters. In fact, since making his debut at the event in 2007, the 2011 edition was the only time he didn’t feature.
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Djokovic, who was set to be seeded fourth, was replaced in the main draw by Sebastian Baez.
Taylor Fritz was also due to be seeded as he is currently eighth in the ATP Rankings, but he has been managing his knee injury for several months and has decided to take some time off to “get it healed 100 percent”.
France’s Terence Atmane will take the American’s place in the main draw.
Great Britain’s Draper is another player who has been managing an injury as he has struggled with an arm problem since last year.
After missing the latter stages of the 2025 season and the start of the 2026 campaign, the former world No 4 made his comeback in Dubai and also played in Indian Wells and Miami.
But he will be absent from the Monte Carlo Masters in order to recover fully.
World No 52 Daniel Altmaier from Germany has received the nod as Draper’s replacement while Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard will take Korda’s place in the draw.
American Korda, who pulled off the upset of the Miami Open when he beat top seed Alcaraz in the third round, is out with a back injury.
Of the four players who will be absent, Draper had the most points to defend as he will drop 100 points as he reached the round of 16 last year.
Djokovic and Korda lost earlier and will drop only 10 points while Fritz didn’t play in Monte Carlo 12 months ago.
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