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Second seeds Nikola Mektic (right) and Mate Pavic are seeking their fifth trophy of 2021 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
Top seeds Cabal and Farah lead the way
Miami Open presented by Itau champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic will chase their second ATP Masters 1000 trophy of the season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
Mektic, who won the 2019 title alongside Franko Skugor, and Pavic will face singles stars Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin or Marcelo Demoliner and Danill Medvedev in their opening match. The second seeds are joined in the bottom quarter of the draw by 2016 champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
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Mektic and Pavic own a 25-3 record this season and have already lifted four ATP Tour trophies in 2021. Prior to clinching the Miami title, the Croatian pair also triumphed at the Antalya Open, the Murray River Open and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos will aim to capture their third Masters 1000 trophy as a team. The fourth seeds, who headline the third quarter of the draw, won three clay-court events last season, including the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
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The Spanish-Argentine duo will face French pair Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin or two-time Masters 1000 finalists Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev in the second round. The third quarter also features a first-round clash between eighth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau and wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
In the top half of the draw, top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah lead the way. The 17-time tour-level team titlists will attempt to double their 2021 trophy count in Monte-Carlo, following their title run at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month.
Cabal and Farah will face reigning Rolex Paris Masters champions Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz or Monegasque wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys in their tournament opener. The Colombians are also joined in the top quarter by sixth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot and singles stars Fabio Fognini and Diego Schwartzman.
The second quarter is led by the two teams which contested the Australian Open final in February: Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek and Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. Dodig and Polasek, who lifted the trophy at Melbourne Park in February, have competed in two finals this season (1-1). Ram and Salisbury have reached the semi-finals or better at their three most recent events.
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