Medvedev pushed hard in opening Monte-Carlo win

Daniil Medvedev bounced back from his early exit in Miami with a hard-fought win on Monday, when he overcame Karen Khachanov to get his clay season underway at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The 29-year-old, who dropped out of the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings following his opening-round exit in Miami, recovered from squandering a 5-1 advantage in the first set to lead before he lost a 4-1 advantage in the second set, with Khachanov winning the majority of the lengthy exchanges to force a decider.

With little to separate them, Medvedev combined heavy baseline hitting with good use of the drop shot in the decider to record a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win after two hours and 51 minutes.

Medvedev is chasing his first title since Rome in 2023, when he won on clay at the ATP Masters 1000. With his victory against Khachanov, Medvedev avenged his defeat to the 28-year-old at last year’s event in The Principality.

He now leads Khachanov 7-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and will next play Alexandre Muller after the Frenchman beat Argentine qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 6-4.

Matteo Berrettini held a 15-1 record on clay last season, winning titles in Marrakech, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. Making his first appearance on the surface this year, the Italian moved past Argentine Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round in Monte-Carlo.

Berrettini was aggressive on return throughout the one-hour, 48-minute clash, winning 61 per cent of points on Navone’s second serve and breaking five times, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

The No. 34 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Berrettini arrived in Monte-Carlo off the back of a run to the quarter-finals in Miami, his first at ATP Masters 1000 level since 2021. Berrettini’s reward for his opening win in Monte-Carlo is a second-round blockbuster clash with top seed Alexander Zverev.

Zverev leads Berrettini 4-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series but the Italian won their most recent meeting at Wimbledon in 2023.

Former finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina moved past Ben Shelton 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-1. The Spaniard, who reached the title match in The Principality in 2022, has reached tour-level finals in Delray Beach and Acapulco this year.