Jannik Sinner pulls out of Monte Carlo Masters draw as chaos strikes doubles tournament

Jannik Sinner has officially withdrawn from the doubles draw at the Monte Carlo Masters after teaming up with Zizou Bergs. The Italian-Belgian pair made it to the last 16 after beating Casper Ruud and Tomas Machac in their opening match, but have now given No. 8 seeds Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard a walkover into the quarter-finals.

There were set to be eight round-of-16 matches in the doubles event in Monte Carlo, but two have already been scrapped, with Sinner and Bergs becoming the second pair to withdraw. The Czech duo of Jiri Lehecka and Jakub Mensik also pulled out, as a toe injury forced Mensik out of the tournament altogether and led to his singles withdrawal.

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Sinner and Bergs have both reached the last 16 in the singles draw. No. 2 seed Sinner received a first-round bye and then breezed past Ugo Humbert on Tuesday, winning 6-3 6-0 in just over an hour. Meanwhile, Bergs beat Adrian Mannarino in round one and then upset 15th seed and former champion Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.

It then emerged that the pair had withdrawn from the doubles event, and Bergs’ father Koen quickly confirmed that this was Sinner’s choice. “It is official now. No doubles R2 for Zizou and Jannik,” he tweeted. “Jannik withdraws from the doubles draw. Understandable since he can become N1 in this tournament. Nevertheless, great experience for Zizou which will never be forgotten.”

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Ahead of the tournament, both Bergs and his dad knew that Sinner would need to focus on singles, and they questioned whether he would even enter the doubles event – especially given that he lifted the Miami Open title just seven days before the Monte Carlo Masters began.

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“We know very well that Jannik will decide whether to actually play the doubles or not. He just won the Sunshine Double, so it’s possible that he wants to rest a bit. On the other hand, he could gain a lot of points since he didn't participate last year. Let’s wait and see,” Koen told Ubitennis days before the Monte Carlo Masters got underway.

Before their withdrawal, world No. 40 Bergs gushed over his partnership with Sinner. “Amazing that Jannik wants to share the court with me. Why? I don’t know! But does it help? Definitely, to share some knowledge. With him, it’s just incredible to learn from him,” he smiled.

“What’s funny, I was on the bench with him and out of nowhere, he starts laughing so hard because I said to him, ‘When I try to play a ball in, I really cannot play tennis’. He didn’t stop laughing for like two minutes. I was like, ‘Why are you laughing?’

“I just think he thought it was absolutely ridiculous I had those ideas in my head to just want to make a ball and do nothing more with it. Stuff like that really just helps with some more experience and knowledge into my system.”

Andreozzi and Guinard will now face No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos after reaching the quarter-finals via walkover. Frenchman Guinard lifted the trophy here last year with Monegasque partner Romain Arneodo. And they’re not the only ones who got a walkover, as Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski also went straight into the quarters when Lehecka and Mensik pulled out.

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