The Pick, presented by DraftKings Sportsbook: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Taylor Fritz, Monte-Carlo

World No. 46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and world No. 13 Taylor Fritz are both coming off of massive victories, and the two will now clash in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Davidovich Fokina needed only an hour and 33 minutes to bounce world No. 47 David Goffin with a 6-4, 6-1 win last round. Meanwhile, Fritz’s last win was equally as impressive, as the American earned a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over world No. 42 Sebastian Korda, who had just defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.

This will be the third meeting between these two talented young players, and it also happens to be the third time they’ve met on clay. Fritz earned a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over the Spaniard in their first match, back in 2018. About a year later, Davidovich Fokina earned a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Fritz in Estoril, and it’s hard not to view the 22-year-old as the better clay-court player in this match-up.

While Fritz has earned some impressive victories in Monaco this week, nothing tops the Spaniard earninga 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Djokovic obviously had to knock some rust off throughout that match, but that was the biggest win of Davidoch Fokina’s career. And while it would have been understandable for him to suffer a letdown following that one, he was even sharper in his win over Goffin. Now, he will look to topple Fritz, who is having a career year after having won Indian Wells in March.

At some point, you have to expect Fritz’s Netflix magic—the exciting American is filming a documentary for Netflix, and it just so happens to be capturing the best season of his life—to wear off, and this really should be the spot. The American is a pretty solid all-court player, but dirt isn't his best surface. Meanwhile, all of Davidovich Fokina’s best career performances have come on clay, with his quarterfinal run at the 2021 French Open standing out.

The Spaniard grew up on clay and his movement is better on it than anywhere else. That should allow Davidovich Fokina to track down some of Fritz’s harder ground strokes, and he should also be able to get into a few of his service games. All in all, the Spaniard is just going to give himself more opportunities to win big points than his opponent in this one, with his fighting mentality being a big reason why. Truth be told, it’s a little surprising that Davidovich Fokina wasn’t the favorite in this spot.

The Pick: Davidovich Fokina To Win (-105)