Milos Raonic made a strong start to his Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters campaign on Monday, defeating Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato 6-3, 7-5 on Court Ranier III.

Reflecting on his performance, Raonic said, “I think I did some things well. I stepped up and I played aggressive when I needed to. But I let myself fall into a little bit too much of a defensive pattern where I was playing a little too far back. It didn’t allow me to use my game to dictate. I was a little bit more reactive rather than proactive.

“Other than that, I have to be happy that I gave myself another chance to play better in two days. I believe, and will keep fighting for this tournament.”

Monaco resident Raonic is coming off a very successful March, which saw him reach the final in Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic) and the quarter-finals in Miami (l. to Kyrgios). The Canadian has reached the quarter-finals at the Monte-Carlo Country Club the past two years.

Dominic Thiem had to dig deep for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff. The 12^th-seeded Austrian was the form player on clay in February, winning the title in Buenos Aires, where he beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, and reaching the semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro (l. to Pella).

France’s Benoit Paire saved one match point as he battled past Inigo Cervantes 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(6). The 16^th seed was on the brink of defeat as he served at 5-6, 30/40 in the deciding set, but rallied to go on and win in the eventual tie-break. “I was able to stay in the match and fight back and pull it out,” Paire said. “This victory is extremely good for me and it’s good for my mental attitude.”

Paire was joined in the second round by Lucas Pouille, who won an all-French contest with Nicolas Mahut, 7-6(1), 6-3. Wild card Pouille set a second-round clash with Richard Gasquet after claiming his sixth win of the season. The 22 year old is coming off a fourth-round showing in Miami (l. to Simon).

Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils made the home fans happy on Monday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters as both scored first-round wins with bagel second sets.

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The ninth-seeded Gasquet defeated Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-0 in 69 minutes. The Frenchman twice squandered a break advantage in the first set, but from 4-4, reeled off the final eight games of the match to win the pair’s seventh meeting and record his fourth win in a row over Almagro.

The 29-year-old Gasquet was forced to delay his start to the year due to a back injury, but returned to action with victory in Montpellier (d. Mathieu) in February. Gasquet made his mark at the Monte-Carlo Country Club 11 years ago, when he stunned Roger Federer in the quarter-finals before losing a close semi-final to Rafael Nadal.

Monfils recorded a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Gilles Muller in just over an hour, rallying from a 2-5 deficit in the first set to go on a tear of 11 straight games. The 29 year old is coming off successive quarter-final showings at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (l. to Raonic) and Miami (l. to Nishikori) and claimed his 16th win of the season as he converted all five of his break points.

“It was just a break down, 5-2, one break on clay. Of course, on hard courts it would have been more complicated. But on clay… He made two double-faults,” said Monfils, who defeated Roger Federer en route to the semi-finals here last year (l. to Berdych).

“So during that first set I didn’t return well, but I was able to improve. I believe I played quite well. Little by little I was able to get used to the court and I was able to play a bit higher, not always deep enough, but I was able to find the right angles to make him move. He was not running too well on clay, I thought.

“I played a solid match. It was not a great match, but it was a solid game.”

There was more French cheer as qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert set a second-round clash with No. 2 seed Andy Murray after beating Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4. It was the 25-year-old Herbert’s first clay-court win at tour level.

In a first-round contest between two #NextGen 18-year-old stars, Alexander Zverev defeated Andrey Rublev 6-1, 6-3 on Monday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

World No. 54 Zverev made his Monte-Carlo debut in style, advancing in one hour as he won 75 per cent of his service points and broke No. 157-ranked Rublev four times. Zverev goes on to face seventh seed David Ferrer.

“We’ve known each other since we were 11 years old,” said Zverev of Rublev. “We’ve been playing for such a long time on different levels of the tour. Under-14 tournaments, ITF tournaments and now this is the first time we played in a professional event. It’s nice to see how we both have grown really. So I think that was just the first one of many.”

Looking ahead to the clash with Ferrer, Zverev said, “It’s a great test for me. I think he’s one of the toughest competitors on clay. I think he’s been playing great on clay his whole career. He’s been a solid Top 10 player for 10 years now. It’s going to be a great match. I’m looking forward to it.”

Zverev has jumped 29 places in the Emirates ATP Rankings since the start of the year, thanks to compiling an 11-8 match record and strong showings in Montpellier, where he reached the semi-finals, and Indian Wells, where he held match point against Rafael Nadal in a thrilling fourth-round match.

Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene scored his first win at the Monte-Carlo Country Club as he dismissed Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-3 in just over one hour. The No. 60-ranked Bedene earned a second-round clash with eight-time champion Rafael Nadal.

“At the moment I’m enjoying playing tennis,” said Bedene. “It’s going to be against Rafa, who I respect. He’s one of the best clay-courters. It’s going to be fun. Definitely if I bring my best tennis, I’m not the favourite, but I can stand a chance.”

A pair of Spaniards advanced as Guillermo Garcia-Lopez defeated Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-1 and 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 7-6(4).

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