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Edmund beaten by Seppi in Monte Carlo first round

  • Posted: Apr 17, 2018

British number one Kyle Edmund was beaten by Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco.

Edmund, who reached his maiden ATP Tour final on Sunday, was beaten 6-3 5-7 6-2 by the world number 62.

The Briton struggled on a slow surface, converting just two of his 11 break points as he lost in two hours three minutes.

Seppi will play Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round.

Both players saved break points in their opening service games before Seppi won four consecutive games to put Edmund under pressure.

Edmund, ranked a career-high 23rd in the world, improved with his forehand but Seppi served out the first set in 33 minutes.

The Briton looked more comfortable in the second set but he failed to capitalise on any break points, eventually forcing a decider as Seppi hit a backhand into the net.

Edmund held off three break points in the opening game of the third set, but the Italian won the next three matches to set himself up for victory.

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Elsewhere, Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem fought back to beat Russia’s Andrey Rublev 5-7 7-5 7-5.

Thiem, making his return after a five-week absence with an ankle injury, saved a match point in the second set before reaching the third round in two hours 40 minutes.

Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov also overcame a scare to beat France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6 6-2 6-4.

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Zverev Shocks Pouille In Monte-Carlo

  • Posted: Apr 17, 2018

Zverev Shocks Pouille In Monte-Carlo

Apr172018

German wins back-to-back matches for the first time in 2018

Mischa Zverev played a game of patience on a sun-kissed Tuesday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters to advance to the third round.

Clever service placement and a willingness to attack the net helped the German to a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over seventh-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille in two hours and five minutes. It is the first time Zverev has won back-to-back matches in 2018 (6-10 record).

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Largely everything Pouille hit came off in the first set, but it wasn’t without tension as he saved break points in three service games. However, his confidence and timing evaporated in the 26-minute second set, which saw Zverev take a 5-0 lead.

Zverev was left frustrated at 2-3, 30/40 in the decider when he struck a mis-timed backhand long, but he immediately worked his way back into the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting and in the tie-break took a 4/1 lead that proved too big for Pouille to claw back.

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Last year at this historic event, World No. 11 Pouille reached his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final (also 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia).

In another result at the Monte-Carlo County Club, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez led 3-1 in the deciding set, but endured a tense finale against Benoit Paire of France, converting his fifth match point chance to complete a 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over two hours and 22 minutes. Lopez will next meet countryman and No. 11 seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Did You Know?
Mischa Zverev is appearing in the main draw of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for just the second time in his career. The German lost in the first round to Jiri Vesely on his main draw debut in 2017.

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Suite Rafael Nadal Opens At Monte-Carlo Bay

  • Posted: Apr 17, 2018

Rafael Nadal opened a suite in his name at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort on Monday in the presence of His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

The 92m² suite includes memorabilia from Nadal’s career, including a tennis racquet, shirt, shoes and photos of his 10 titles at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, venue of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

The Spanish superstar was joined in opening Suite 1029 at the official hotel by Elisabeth-Ann de Massy, ​​President of the Tournament Committee, Mélanie-Antoinette de Massy, ​​Jean-Luc Biamonti, Deputy President of the Societe des Bains de Mer, and Zeljko Franulovic, Tournament Director of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

World No. 1 Nadal has a 63-4 match record since his tournament debut in 2003 – including a 46-match winning streak between 2005 to 2013. He will open his campaign on Wednesday against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene.

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Clay Sensation Thiem Returns Tuesday

  • Posted: Apr 17, 2018

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Get the popcorn cooking early Tuesday — you’re going to need it.

Five Top 8 seeds are in action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the first clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season. And fans won’t have to ease into the day, either.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following matches from the 2018 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters & vote for who you think will win! 
Thiem v Rublev | Goffin v Tsitsipas | Verdasco v Cuevas

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Right off the bat, No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem takes on #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev, last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up, in a battle between two of the biggest hitters on the ATP World Tour on Court Rainier III. The Austrian, Thiem, who won the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last year in Vienna, is returning to action for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

“All in all I’m really satisfied with the recovery and I’m 100 per cent for playing,” said Thiem, who was second on the ATP World Tour in 2017 with 22 clay-court wins, trailing only Rafael Nadal. “It’s tough to come here to collect matches because it’s really tough from the first round, so I’m here to compete from my first round… I practised well, so I’m ready to play good here.”

According to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, Thiem’s win-rate on clay is 15th-best all-time at 74.6 per cent (91-31). Even so, it will be a tough challenge against the 20-year-old Rublev, who is No. 33 in the ATP Rankings. The aggressive-playing Russian advanced to the final at Doha to begin the season (l. to Monfils), but has lost his past five tour-level matches. So Rublev will be eager to put in a good performance against Thiem, as he seeks his second Top 10 triumph (1-8).

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One of the most intriguing matches of the day is the final match on, pitting two-time Masters 1000 champion Alexander Zverev against the crafty left-hander, World No. 28 Gilles Muller. The Luxembourg star won their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch last season, and also defeated the German on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2015.

But Zverev has proven his form, advancing to the final of the Miami Open presented by Itau two weeks ago, his third championship match at the elite level. On the other hand, Muller, who thrives on his pinpoint service accuracy on quicker surfaces, is 0-4 against Top 10 players on clay.

Alexander’s brother, Mischa, has an even tougher test. The left-handed serve-and-volleyer faces the top-ranked Frenchman, Lucas Pouille. The No. 7 seed advanced to his second Masters 1000 semi-final in Monte-Carlo last year, and broke into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings last month for two weeks, before dropping to his current spot at World No. 11.

Zverev, who seeks back-to-back match wins for the first time in 2018, will force Pouille to make tough shots as he likely will venture to net often in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. In the first round, Zverev ousted #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

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Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, a resident of Monte-Carlo, opens his clay-court campaign against French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Dimitrov is making his sixth straight Monte-Carlo appearance and will look to stave off doubles standout Herbert, who is 1-7 lifetime against Top 10 opponents.

In one of the most tactically appealing matches of the day, 2010 Monte-Carlo finalist Fernando Verdasco takes on last year’s quarter-finalist and doubles champion Pablo Cuevas for the fifth time (tied 2-2) in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Verdasco is two wins away from becoming the sixth Spaniard in the Open Era to earn 500 career wins.

Other Matches To Watch

  • #NextGenATP Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas looks for his second win against Top 10 player David Goffin. Tsitsipas prevailed last October in Antwerp, and showed excellent tennis in defeating fellow #NextGenATP star Denis Shapovalov on Monday.
  • Wild card Gilles Simon, this year’s Pune titlist, looks for his first win (0-2) against countryman Adrian Mannarino, who won both of their previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings in 2011.
  • Fabio Fognini plays qualifier Ilya Ivashka of Belarus for the first time. Fognini is closing in on 300 career wins (298).

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Jared Donaldson: World number 51 confronts umpire on court after wrong decision

  • Posted: Apr 16, 2018

World number 51 Jared Donaldson confronted an umpire after disagreeing with a call made in his first-round defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters.

While 6-3 3-2 down to Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the 21-year-old American became outraged when a serve by the Spaniard was called in by umpire Arnaut Gabas when he believed it was out.

Donaldson was seen shouting in Gabas’ face after calling him on to court.

Video replays later showed Donaldson was correct but Hawkeye was not in use.

Donaldson eventually lost 6-3 6-3 and apologised to his opponent for his behaviour, but refused to shake Gabas’ hand.

Gabas was the umpire who suffered an eye socket fracture last year when a wayward Denis Shapovalov shot hit him in the face during Canada’s Davis Cup tie with Great Britain.

Elsewhere, two-time champion Novak Djokovic defeated fellow Serb Dusan Lajovic 6-0 6-1, while Canada’s Milos Raonic came from behind to win 3-6 6-2 6-3 against Lucas Catarina of Monaco.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori also came from a set down to defeat Tomas Berdych 4-6 6-2 6-1.

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Djokovic 'Inspired' & Ready In Monte-Carlo

  • Posted: Apr 16, 2018

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Two-time Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion Novak Djokovic stepped on Court Rainier III Monday at the Monte-Carlo Country Club for just his seventh match since 2017 Wimbledon. The Serbian arrived on a three-match losing streak, his first of that length since the end of 2007, when he dropped five in a row.

But after defeating countryman Dusan Lajovic in under an hour with the loss of just one game, Djokovic delivered exciting news.

“After two years finally I can play without pain,” Djokovic said.

In February, the 30-year-old announced a ‘small medical intervention’ on his right elbow to help him recover from an injury that had bothered him for two years. The Serbian played his first matches since the Australian Open (l. to Chung) at Indian Wells (l. to Daniel) and Miami (l. to Paire), less than two months after that ‘intervention’.

“The intervention was done right, and I came back already after five weeks on the court from the moment I had the surgery. That’s amazing,” Djokovic said. “I still obviously wasn’t ready game-wise, physically. So Indian Wells and Miami were really kind of a struggle on the court for me mentally. I know that I can play much better than that, but I couldn’t. I just wasn’t ready.”

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But now, after a devastating performance in which Djokovic won 67 per cent of return points and showed signs of the form that helped him finish the year at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings four times, the right-hander is excited to move forward.

“I thought it was good considering the amount of matches I’ve played in the past almost 12 months,” Djokovic said. “With injury and everything that was happening the past couple months, the post-surgery period, me trying to come back to Indian Wells and Miami, and obviously playing well below the desired level, it wasn’t that easy for me to cope with all of that. At the same time it made me I think even more inspired to come back and try to play the way I played today.

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“Under the circumstances and considering I haven’t played too many official matches, I thought I played well. I thought I started the tournament well. It’s [my] first match on clay,” Djokovic said. “All in all, it was a great start of the tournament.”

And Djokovic was also excited to have Marian Vajda, his coach from June 2006 until May 2017, back in his corner.

“It’s a fresh start I think for both of us. I missed him,” Djokovic said, before cracking a smile. “I have a feeling that he missed me or tennis or both.”

Read: Djokovic, Vajda Reunite In Monte-Carlo

The No. 9 seed says he does not yet have a long-term commitment with Vajda, but that their time together thus far has gone as well as possible.

“We both enjoyed a lot the past 10 days of practice we had. He knows me better than any tennis coach I’ve worked with. He’s a friend. He’s someone I can share a lot of things with, whether it’s professional or private life. He’s always there for me,” Djokovic said. “He knows me inside-out. He knows what I need in order to get to the highest possible level of play. We could not ask for a better start.”

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Now that the former World No. 1 is pain-free, he can begin his climb back to top form. That journey will continue in the second round against Indian Wells semi-finalist Borna Coric.

“The first practice we had, that’s what I felt. I felt safe on the court, I felt motivated, a lot of great things,” Djokovic said. “We’re going to both work to keep it that way.”

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