Zizou Bergs “would never dare” ask Jannik Sinner to team up for doubles. At least, that’s what his father, Koen, believed. But things took an unexpected turn when Sinner himself approached the Belgian during a practice session at Indian Wells and suggested they pair up in Monte Carlo, an offer the 26-year-old accepted without hesitation.

Their debut together in the Principality proved to be a success, even earning them the chance to celebrate with a lighthearted “Belgian handshake.”

However, after their opening-round win, Koen Bergs hinted that the Italian might quietly withdraw, sparking widespread speculation about the reasons behind a potential exit.

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“It is official now. No doubles R2 for Zizou and Jannik. 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,” Koen wrote on X.

In fact, there were serious doubts over Sinner’s participation in the doubles event ahead of the Monte Carlo Open. Both Bergs and his dad were aware that he will give the priority to the singles draw, especially after clinching the titles at both the Indian Wells and Miami Open.

“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 had told Ubitennis just days before the tournament.

Moreover, in the opening round, Sinner and Bergs registered a convincing 6-4, 7-5 win over Casper Ruud and Tomáš Macháč. However, just days after that result, Sinner decided to withdraw from the doubles event.

The pair had been scheduled to face the No. 8 seeds Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard in the round of 16, but the duo instead received a walkover into the quarterfinals. While Bergs may have been disappointed by the sudden turn of events, his father, Koen Bergs, described Sinner’s decision as “understandable.”

The World No. 2 also has a significant opportunity in the singles race, with a chance to reclaim the top spot in the ATP rankings for the second time in his career. His strong run across the ‘Sunshine Double’ has helped him close the gap on World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who arrived in Monte Carlo with 13,590 points, while Sinner trails closely at 12,400.

With Alcaraz being the defending champion, he is set to drop 1000 points before the tournament. This means that the gap at the top will drop down to just 190 points. Sinner needs to get a better result than Alcaraz in the singles draw at the Monte Carlo Open to reach the top of the rankings.

For context, if Alcaraz bows out in the Round of 16 and Sinner manages to reach the quarterfinals, then he will take over. For now, both the players have advanced to the last 16 with Alcaraz also making a solid start to his singles campaign.

He handed a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 defeat to Sebastian Baez in the opening round. While he will be locking horns against Tomás Martín Etcheverry in the R16, the Italian is set to take on Tomáš Macháč.

Interestingly, Sinner and Bergs weren’t the only pair to pull out from the Round of 16 as two out of the eight matches ended up being scrapped.

The pair of Jakub Mensik & Jiri Lehecka withdraw from Monte Carlo Open

The Czech duo had to pull out from the doubles event after Jakub Mensik suffered a toe injury just hours before his singles encounter against Fabian Marozsan at the Monte Carlo Masters. This blow meant that Mensik had to withdraw from the tournament as a whole.

The duo of Lehecka and Mensik had made an impressive start to the doubles draw. They had defeated the pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4 in the Round of 32. They were scheduled to face the pair of Neal Skupski and Christian Harrison in the R16, who have now been given a walkover to the last 8 due to the withdrawal.

This wasn’t the first time that Mensik had pulled out from a tournament this year. Earlier, he had made it to the Round of 16 of the Australian Open, which was his career-best Grand Slam performance. He was scheduled to take on Novak Djokovic but had to withdraw from the crucial match due to an abdominal injury.

It remains to be seen if Mensik is able to regain full fitness before the Madrid Masters rolls in from April 22.