On a dramatic day of doubles action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the first-time pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Jamie Murray won an extended Match Tie-break to successfully open their account on Monday.

The Indian/British duo scored a 2-6, 6-3, 12-10 victory over Miami finalists Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, completing the comeback on a third match point. After both Bopanna and Murray dropped serve in the opening set, the duo broke both opponents in the second to force the decider. Down 1/5 in the Match Tie-break, they clawed back two mini-breaks as part of a late surge to take the match.

While Bopanna and Murray have competed against each other 12 times on the ATP Tour, including three times in Monte Carlo, this was their first time playing on the same side of the net. Their maiden victory sets up a second-round meeting with Americans Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda, who took a 6-3, 7-5 decision over Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

That was the only Monte Carlo doubles match not decided by a Match Tie-break on Monday. Aslan Karatsev and John Peers saved a match point in the second-set tie-break before notching a 4-6, 7-6(9), 10-8 win over Austin Krajicek and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and brother Petros Tsitsipas also came from behind to beat Andrey Golubev and Lorenzo Sonego, 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-2, while sixth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah were 7-6(6), 4-6, 10-7 winners against Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.

The doubles opening round will conclude on Tuesday, with two second-round matches also on the schedule, including fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut taking on Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev.

Stan Wawrinka lost his first tour-level match in 13 months on Monday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, but he departs the Principality pleased with his progress.

“It was a way better match. I think the body’s getting much better. I’m still far away from where I want to be, but I think I’m [moving in] the right direction,” Wawrinka said after his three-set loss against Alexander Bublik. “I think today was a positive match. It was a tough loss, of course, but I’m happy with the way I was playing today.”

The former World No. 3 took the first set from the shotmaking Kazakhstani and broke serve three times in the match. But as the match wore on, Bublik grew stronger.

It was Wawrinka’s first tour-level appearance since Doha last year. The Swiss competed in an ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella two weeks ago to begin his comeback from two left foot surgeries, and he is still rounding into form, both in terms of his tennis and his fitness.

“I knew coming here that I’m not physically and tennis-wise ready. I wanted to play a few matches with the Challenger two weeks ago. Now we are practising with the top guys to get my level a bit better,” Wawrinka said. “But I knew and I didn’t expect to play already the way I want to play, so I knew it would be difficult. As I said, I think it was much better than what I was expecting today.

“I was playing better, feeling better on the court of course physically, tennis-wise, and also I spent a lot of mental energy to focus, to stay there as it was tough at the end. But again, I’m happy with what I have done today.”

Watch Highlights: Bublik vs. Wawrinka

Wawrinka is a 16-time tour-level titlist who has won some of the world’s biggest tournaments, including the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2014. But the 37-year-old admitted he was not expecting to show up in Monaco and lift the trophy. Pushing Bublik to three sets was a positive for him.

“It’s a lot better than I ever thought I could do today. Of course I’m aware that I’m not ready physically, mentally, [tennis-wise]. I didn’t play a lot of tennis at all before I’m here,” Wawrinka said. “So I am trying to catch up because I had the goal to come back to competition maybe too quickly, but it was important mentally to know I was going to play two tournaments, Marbella, here, to be able to practise with the best players, to play against them, and to find the emotions that I missed so much.”

With this experience under his belt, Wawrinka will now return to training and discuss with his team how they will approach the coming weeks. He does not know the tournament at which he will compete next.

“What I need is to have a programme that allows me when I get to the next tournament to feel that I’m ready,” Wawrinka said. “So I will take the time I need, and when I will be ready, I will play another tournament.”

For now, Wawrinka is pleased to have once again competed on one of the sport’s biggest stages. More than ever, he appreciates these moments.

“I did this rehabilitation during more than a year just to be able to step onto courts like this one, to be in a tournament like this with the crowd, with the atmosphere, the emotions, and the thrill that you can feel with the stress, also,” Wawrinka said. “All this is the reason why I’m playing, and it was very enjoyable today.”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga competed at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for the final time on Monday after he lost to Croatian Marin Cilic in the first round.

The Frenchman, who recently announced he will be retiring after Roland Garros, was unable to handle Cilic’s aggressive groundstrokes, with the World No. 22 triumphing 6-2, 6-2 after 69 minutes.

With his victory, Cilic now leads Tsonga 7-2 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next face Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz or wild card Lucas Catarina. The 33-year-old is a 20-time tour-level champion and has clinched titles on clay in Umag (2012) and Istanbul (2017).

Tsonga has enjoyed success on the courts at the Monte-Carlo Country Club over the years, advancing to the semi-finals in 2013 and 2016. The former World No. 5 has earned standout wins over Roger Federer and 2014 titlist Stan Wawrinka at the clay-court event.

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Hubert Hurkacz started his clay-court season with a hard-fought win, overcoming Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round.

The Pole clinched three tour-level titles in a standout 2021 season, including his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami. The 11th seed is still searching for his first trophy of 2022, though, but he produced a gritty baseline display against Dellien, hammering his groundstrokes and scampering around the court to advance after one hour and 40 minutes.

The World No. 14, who is making his third appearance in Monte-Carlo, will next meet Spaniard Pedro Martinez or Frenchman Ugo Humbert. Hurkacz will be aiming to improve his clay-court results this season, having held a 1-4 record on the surface in 2021.

Roger Federer is working hard on his rehab, the former World No. 1 revealed on Instagram Monday.

“Rehab is rockinggggggg🎸💪🏼,” Federer wrote.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer)

The Swiss’ peers were quick to notice his post, which earned more than 100,000 likes in well under an hour.

“Daiiii Rogeeerrrr… come back sooonnn @rogerfederer 🙌👏,” Fabio Fognini commented.

“Yesss 🔥,” Denis Shapovalov commented.

Federer last competed at Wimbledon last year, where he advanced to the quarter-finals. After that event, the 103-time tour-level titlist underwent right knee surgery. He had already undergone arthroscopic right knee surgeries in February 2020 and May 2020.

Jannik Sinner battled into the second round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Monday, but his victory was not without a scare.

Sinner clawed past Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 after two hours and 28 minutes in a clash between former Riccardo Piatti protégés. The ninth seed will next face Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori or German lucky loser Oscar Otte.

In the second set, it seemed unclear if Sinner would be able to complete the match. The Italian at times bent over and grimaced due to apparent pain in his midsection, for which he took a medical timeout late in the second set.

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But despite the pain and the efforts of Coric, who was playing just his fourth match since Rotterdam last March, Sinner powered his way to victory. The 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion saved a break point in the first game of the decider with a forehand winner and never looked back.

Sinner played aggressively on the clay, putting pressure on Coric that the Croatian was unable to consistently overcome. That was especially key early in the third set, when he regained the momentum. The five-time ATP Tour titlist spent 25 per cent of the third set playing offence compared to just 16 per cent for Coric, as revealed by Tennis Data Innovation’s new analysis tool, Balance Of Power (learn more).

In the second set, Coric led that metric 18 per cent to 16 per cent, so the big turnaround helped Sinner pave his path to victory.

The 20-year-old saved seven of the nine break points he faced and won 42 per cent of his first-serve return points. This is Sinner’s second appearance in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Tuesday’s action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will see the conclusion of the singles opening round and the start of the second round, with three of the tournament’s Top 10 seeds set to open their accounts on the week.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic returns to the ATP Tour for the first time since February, while third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces a tough challenge as he opens his title defence at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs. A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP)

Djokovic will contest his fourth ATP Tour match of the 2022 season when he takes on 22-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Court Rainier III. Following a quarter-final exit in Dubai, his only previous event of the year, the Serb is looking forward to a fresh start at the Monte Carlo Country Club, where he has trained for more than a decade. 

“I still feel motivated to compete with the young guys and try to challenge them and fight for one of the biggest trophies in our sport,” he said, looking ahead to Monte Carlo, where he lifted the title in 2013 and 2015.

Despite his past success and his comfort at the picturesque Monaco venue, Djokovic is keeping his expectations in check.

“I try not to have too high of expectations for myself, even though I obviously want to play at my best every tournament,” he said. “I’m behind with competitive play against 99 per cent of the players, so it will probably take me some time to find a groove, to find the right momentum and get myself in the rhythm. Hopefully sooner than later. I always want to believe that it can come already [in the] first or second match, but I’m trying to take things step by step.”

In World No. 46 Davidovich Fokina, he faces a stern early test. The Spaniard defeated Marcos Giron, 7-5, 6-3, in his opening match on Sunday and is seeking to build on his quarter-final run in Monte Carlo one year ago. The Serb has won both of their meetings to date, with straight-sets victories in Rome and at the Tokyo Olympics last season.

[3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. F. Fognini (ITA)

Tsitsipas did not drop a set in his five victories en route to the 2021 Monte Carlo title, and has dropped just one set in compiling a 3-0 ATP Head2Head advantage over 2019 champion Fabio Fognini.

“Monte Carlo holds a very special place in my heart,” said the Greek, who resides in Monaco and has fond memories of attending the event with his family every year growing up.

After a successful start to the 2022 season on hard courts, including semi-final showings at the Australian Open and Acapulco as well as a final run in Rotterdam, the 23-year-old Greek is excited to get back on the European clay. 

“I always have great memories playing on this surface,” he said. “For me it’s such an extreme surface because you can really utilise your weapons. You can find yourself from back on defence all the way to offence, all in a single rally. It’s definitely a surface of the extremes.

“I really like the fact that I’m really able to really get a good grip of the ball with heavy topspin and slide around the court. This is something I feel like is part of my nature.”

Fognini advanced to the second round with a three-set win over Arthur Rinderknech on Monday. Though the World No. 32 Italian is no longer the defending champion in Monaco, he is defending 500 ATP Ranking points from his 2019 run — half of the original 1000 he earned that year. Those 500 points make up 37 per cent of his ranking points.

Best Of The Rest

After starting his clay season on home soil in Houston, 10th seed Taylor Fritz will get hist first taste of the European red clay on Tuesday against wild card Lucas Catarina, a Monte Carlo native. The Indian Wells champion faced two Chileans last week, beating Alejandro Tabilo but falling in three sets to Cristian Garin. He is making his third Monte Carlo appearance, with his best result a third-round run in 2019. 

Fritz, who will face Catarina on Court Des Princes, is already off the mark in the Monte Carlo doubles competition, earning a win on Monday with countryman Sebastian Korda.

Daniel Evans will open play on Court Rainier III against lucky loser Benjamin Bonzi. Evans reached the Monte Carlo semi-finals in 2021, beating Djokovic, Hubert Hurkacz and David Goffin before defeat against Tsitsipas. The Briton also reached last year’s doubles final alongside countryman Neal Skupski.

Lorenzo Musetti will follow Evans on the show court, seeking his first Monte Carlo victory in his second appearance. The #NextGenATP Italian flashed his clay-court credentials by reaching the Roland Garros fourth round and the Lyon semi-finals in 2021. The 20-year-old faces Benoit Paire, who has a 4-7 record in Monte Carlo.

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Back on Court Des Princes, 16th seed Lorenzo Sonego will face Ilya Ivashka ahead of Fritz’s match. The Italian fell to Alexander Zverev in the Monte Carlo second round one year ago, but followed it up with a semi-final run in Rome. Qualifier Holger Rune, the Danish #NextGenATP star, will take on Aslan Karatsev on the same court, with Grigor Dimitrov closing play on the second stadium against Dusan Lajovic.

On Court 2, newly crowned Marrakech champion David Goffin, a Monte Carlo wild card, will open his campaign against Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka.

In doubles action, fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut take on wild cards Marcelo Melo and Zverev in one of five matches on the schedule. Evans, now teaming with Diego Schwartzman, will face Monagesque wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys. On Court 9 Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alexander Bublik will opening their campaign, as will Croatians Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig.

SCHEDULE – TUESDAY APRIL 12, 2022

COURT RAINIER III start 11:00 a.m.
D. Evans (GBR) vs. [LL] B. Bonzi (FRA)
L. Musetti (ITA) vs. B. Paire (FRA)
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs. A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
[3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. F. Fognini (ITA)

COURT DES PRINCES start 11:00 a.m.
[16] L. Sonego (ITA) vs. I. Ivashka
[1] T. Fritz (USA) vs. [WC] L. Catarina (MON)
[Q] H. Rune (DEN) vs. A. Karatsev
D. Lajovic (SRB) vs. G. Dimitrov (BUL)

COURT 2 start 11:00 a.m.
P. Martinez (ESP) vs. U. Hubert (FRA)
[WC] M. Melo (BRA) / A/ Zverev (GER) vs. [4] P. Herbert (FRA) / N. Mahut (FRA)
[WC] D. Goffin (BEL) vs. [Q] Jiri Leheccka (CZE)
[WC[ R. Arneodo (MON) / H. Nys (MON) vs. . Evans (GBR) / D. Schwartzman (ARG)

COURT 9 start 11:0 a.m.
[Q] E. Ruusuvuori vs. [LL] Oscar Otte (GER)
S. Gonzalez (MEX) / A/ Nolteni (ARG) vs. N. Basilashvili (GEO) / A. Bublik (KAZ)
M. Cilic (CRO) / I. Dodig (CRO) vs. A. Behar (URU) / G. Escobar (COL)

Court 11 start 11:00 a.m.
[LL] M. Cressy (USA) vs. L. Djere (SRB)
[8] M. Arevalo (ESA) / J. Rojer (NED) vs. T. Brkcuc (BIH) / N. Cacic (SRB)

Novak Djokovic took a break from his preparations for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Monday, but only to test his skills on the football pitch. To do so, he enlisted the help of a pair of fellow champions, Paris Saint-Germain superstars Neymar and Marco Verratti.

Djokovic joined in with a quick game of ‘keepie-uppies’ with the duo. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is a keen football fan and could have picked worse teammates on this occasion — Neymar is one of the most renowned names in world football and has scored 71 goals for Brazil’s national team, while Italy’s Verratti is known as one of Europe’s most skillful and tenacious midfielders.

👌 @neymarjr #marcoverratti pic.twitter.com/7eiZV4BWU8

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) April 11, 2022

Neymar and Verratti are two of the most high-profile stars from the top division of French football, Ligue 1. Paris Saint-Germain, based in the French capital, have won seven of the past nine league championships, with Neymar and Verratti spearheading their rise to one of the top clubs in Europe.

Wild card doubles pairing Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev also caught up with Neymar. Former World No. 1 doubles star Melo will hope the time spent with his countryman can inspire him to a 10th Masters 1000 title this week — the Brazilian has never lifted the trophy in Monte-Carlo. Meanwhile Zverev is seeking a maiden singles title at the only clay-court Masters 1000 event he is yet to win.

Djokovic is a four-time finalist in Monte-Carlo and kicks off his 2022 campaign against World No. 46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round on Tuesday.

Alexander Bublik ensured it would not be a winning return for Stan Wawrinka Monday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, downing the 2014 champion 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Former World No. 3 Wawrinka was competing in his first tour-level match in 13 months and he showed little sign of rustiness for large periods as he crushed forehands and hit his trademark backhand with great depth and topspin.

However, the 37-year-old was unable to maintain his best level as the match wore on, with World No. 36 Bublik causing Wawrinka problems with his powerful serve and variety of shots as he pulled the wild card around the court to claim his first win at the event in two hours and five minutes.

With his victory on Court Rainier III, Bublik now leads Wawrinka 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next face 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta or Argentine qualifier Sebastian Baez in the second round.

Wawrinka has lifted 16 tour-level trophies in his career, including the title in Monte-Carlo in 2014 when he defeated Roger Federer in the final. However, he missed the majority of last season due to injury, with his previous tour-level match prior to Monday coming against Lloyd Harris in Doha in March 2021.

The Swiss star, who admitted in his pre-tournament press conference that his road back to action has been ‘very long and difficult’, will take courage from his performance against Bublik, with the Montpellier titlist having to find his best level to see off Wawrinka.

In an entertaining clash, Wawrinka flew out of the blocks as he hit with controlled aggression to pin Bublik back and clinch the first set. After saving break points on serve at 1-2 and 2-3 in the second set, the 24-year-old started to grow in the match as he looked to move inside the baseline and finish points at the net.

Wawrinka fended off three set points on serve at 4-5, but couldn’t keep Bublik at bay for long, with the Kazakh levelling on his fourth set point. From there, it was one-way traffic as Bublik soared away in the third set as Wawrinka started to tire.

“I think the body’s getting much better,” Wawrinka said in his post-match press conference. “I’m still far away from where I want to be, but I think I’m [going in] the right direction. I think today was a positive match. It was a tough loss, of course, but I’m happy with the way I was playing today.

“I was playing better, feeling better on the court of course physically. I spent a lot of mental energy to focus, to stay there as it was tough at the end. But I’m happy with what I have done today.”

Argentine Diego Schwartzman showed his fighting spirit as he battled past Karen Khachanov 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 to improve to 10-3 on the season on clay.

The 12th seed, who advanced into the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo in 2017, reached finals in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in February. The 29-year-old will face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round.

Meanwhile, Australian Alex de Minaur eliminated Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-4 in 83 minutes. World No. 25 De Minaur is making his second appearance at the clay-court event, having fallen in the first round in 2021.

At just 18-years-old and with the world at his feet, Carlos Alcaraz remains determined to take everything in his stride.

“Sometimes it is difficult, but I am trying to make it easy,” said Alcaraz in his pre-tournament interview as he prepares for his debut at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. “Doing everything for the first time, I am trying my best, trying to manage the nerves of the first time well.”

The Spaniard certainly showed few signs of being overwhelmed at the Miami Open presented by Itau as he charged to a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Florida, defeating Casper Ruud in straight sets in the final to become the youngest champion in the tournament’s 37-year history.

The fast-paced nature of life on Tour meant there was precious little time between his whirlwind Miami success and the beginning of his clay-court preparations, but Alcaraz was still able to return to Spain to share the celebrations with those closest to him.

“It was really special for me,” said Alcaraz. “I had time to celebrate with my friends and family at home for a couple of days, but now it is time to focus on the clay, and the first Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo.”

Despite having already ticked off so many on-court milestones in his young career, it is easy to forget that the Spaniard is still a relative newcomer to the Tour. Alcaraz is still excited by the off-court novelties that accompany playing at the biggest events, and the stunning coastal backdrop to the Monte-Carlo Country Club is no exception.

“It’s pretty amazing, this place,” said Alcaraz. “Playing here is so good. Yesterday was my first training and beforehand I took a photo for the view, the sea, and yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

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The draw in Monte-Carlo has thrown up the possibility of a first meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster quarter-final at the Masters 1000 event, but Alcaraz will not be steered away from the step-by-step approach that has brought him three tour-level titles and taken him to a career-high No. 11 in the ATP Rankings.

“I don’t want to be in a rush, I just focus on the first [match],” he said. Alcaraz faces Sebastian Korda in the second round in Monaco, a rematch of the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals championship match.

“Obviously, it would be a great match against Novak,” added Alcaraz. “Playing against the No. 1 player in the world [would be] amazing for me, but I hope to play well in the first [matches] first and hope to meet him in the quarter-finals.”

This grounded approach has been instilled in Alcaraz by his team, led by coach and former World No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero.

“They support me a lot,” said Alcaraz. “Without them it wouldn’t be possible to be here, to win my first Masters 1000. They support me a lot, try so hard and obviously are talking with me every day, telling me the bad things, the things that I have to improve, the things that I am not doing well. That helps me a lot.”

That’s not to say that Alcaraz isn’t doing things his own way, and the Spaniard is happy that his natural demeanour can help him forge a connection with his thousands of new fans around the world.

“Of course, I will always be the same person,” said Alcaraz. “I will never change. I am confident doing selfies, autographs, everything. I will always be the same person.”