De Minaur Cruises Past Murray In Monte-Carlo

Alex de Minaur made an emphatic start to his clay-court season Monday, when he cruised past former World No. 1 Andy Murray 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Making his third appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event, the Australian outmanoeuvred Murray on the clay in Monaco, pulling the Scot from corner to corner to triumph after 87 minutes.

With his 13th tour-level win of the season, De Minaur has improved to 3-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Murray, who was making his first appearance in the Principality since 2017.

The 14th seed De Minaur, whose best result at an ATP Masters 1000 event was a fourth-round run last year in Indian Wells, will next play Jan-Lennard Struff. The German moved past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-3.

Murray, who is 8-6 on the year, was making his 10th appearance in Monte-Carlo. The 35-year-old advanced to the semi-finals at the event in 2009, 2011 and 2016.