A total of six players have now officially withdrawn from the Monte Carlo Masters with Novak Djokovic the highest-profile star who won’t compete in the Principality.

The ATP 1000 clay-court tournament in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, will take place from 5-12 April at the Monte Carlo Country Club with 56 players featuring in the main draw.

World No 1 and defending champion Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz will be the first name on the draw list as he is the top seed with world No 2 Jannik Sinner headlining the bottom half of the draw.

Alexander Zverev is seeded third as he is currently third in the ATP Rankings, but world No 4 Djokovic’s name has been scrapped from the entry list as he opted not to compete at the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time since 2011 as he continues to play a shortened schedule.

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The two-time Monte Carlo champion was then joined on the withdrawal list by Taylor Fritz, who was due to be seeded eighth, with the American struggling with a long-term knee injury.

World No 25 Jack Draper and world No 42 Sebastian Korda were next to withdraw from the tournament and they have now been joined by the Spanish pair Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Jaume Munar.

World No 17 Davidovich Fokina was set to be seeded 14th and he faces a big drop down the rankings after the tournament as he will be unable to defend the 400 points he earned from his semi-final run last year.

The Spaniard – who finished runner-up in 2022 – beat fifth seed Jack Draper in the third round and Alexei Popyrin in the quarter-final 12 months ago before going down in straight sets against eventual winner Alcaraz.

Davidovich Fokina – who lost in the second round of the Miami Open will drop out of the top 20, but there is better news for Munar – who hasn’t played since reaching the quarter-final of the Rotterdam Open in February – as he doesn’t have any points to defend as he lost in the first round of qualifying 12 months ago.

Replacements

Six players have been promoted to the main draw following Djokovic, Fritz, Draper, Korda, Davidovich Fokina and Munar’s withdrawal with Sebastian Baez, Terence Atmane, Daniel Altmaier, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Márton Fucsovics and Kamil Majchrzak getting the nod.

The draw for the Monte Carlo Masters will take place on Friday, 3 April, but there is a high chance that more players will withdraw before the tournament gets underway on 5 April.