The little yellow ball will reign supreme all next week in the principality. The Monte-Carlo Masters Series, held from April 15 to 23, will celebrate its hundredth edition this year. The world’s top players will compete for the final victory, leading with the world number one, Swiss Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, winner of the 2005 tournament, Argentinians Guillermo Coria (winner in 2004 and finalist in 2005) and David Nalbandian (winner of the last ATP Masters). Other contenders include Marat Safin, shining in Davis Cup, Gaston Gaudio, and Ivan Ljubicic. The main attraction of the tournament will be the duel between Swiss Roger Federer, the undisputed world number one, and Raphaël Nadal, who dominated the 2005 clay season (winner at Monte-Carlo and Roland Garros). The young Spaniard hopes to dethrone King Roger.
On the French side, in the absence of Richard Gasquet, hopes will rest on Sébastien Grosjean. The Marseille native, with a favorable draw, could go far in this tournament and perhaps aim for a semi-final. He has the potential. The player who will become number one in France at the end of the tournament might be the surprise of this edition. Recovered from an injury that forced him to withdraw from the Davis Cup, he prepared in Aix-en-Provence, close to home, with his teammates from the French team Arnaud Clément, Michaël Llodra, and Florent Serra, along with Edouard Roger-Vasselin and the young Alexandre Sidorenko. The French armada can count on the support of the public and perhaps move mountains.
Notable Absences:
André Agassi, at 35, chooses his tournaments and rests for Roland Garros.
Lleyton Hewitt withdraws from Monte Carlo to arrive fresher at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Andy Roddick.
Richard Gasquet, who defeated Roger Federer last year and was a semi-finalist (narrowly defeated by Raphael Nadal) has himself injured his abdominals during his Davis Cup defeat against Dmitry Tursunov.
Additional Information:
The final draw will include 64 of the world’s best players:
52 players admitted automatically, based on their world ranking determined six weeks before the tournament, on March 6.
8 players from the qualifying rounds, which will take place throughout the first weekend, on Saturday, April 15, and Sunday, April 16.
4 wild cards: Jean-René Lisnard, Gilles Simon, Michaël Llodra, Julien Benneteau.
The competition, played in singles and doubles, the Monte-Carlo Masters Series has a prize fund of 1,870,000 euros. The 2006 title winner will receive 340,000 euros.
The organizers expect 100,000 spectators.
List of players with their ranking (excluding this weekend’s qualification):
The website to book and follow the latest tournament information: [Monte Carlo Masters Series](https://montecarlo.masters-series.com/1006/)
