The Women’s Tennis Association will resume tournaments in China having accepted an investigation into Peng Shuai’s sexual assault allegations will not be carried out by the Chinese government.
The last 16 is set at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with all eight third-round matches on the Thursday schedule in Monaco. An abundance of marquee matchups highlights the Day 5 action, led by the evening showdown between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.
In addition to that rematch of the epic Indian Wells quarter-final won by Medvedev, Novak Djokovic will take on Lorenzo Musetti and two pairs of Top 10 seeds will square off as Jannik Sinner meets Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev plays Karen Khachanov.
Other Top 10 seeds in action include two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, fourth seed Casper Ruud and sixth seed Holger Rune, who will meet Matteo Berrettini.
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Four weeks ago, Medvedev and Zverev contested their 13th ATP Head2Head meeting in Indian Wells, where Medvedev won a three-set thriller on his way to the final in the desert. The victory gave the 27-year-old a 7-6 edge in their long-running rivalry, which had been dormant since Zverev’s third-set tie-break win in the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals title match.
Incredibly, the two have never met on clay courts despite their long history. The change of surface will make for an intriguing tactical battle, with Medvedev previously saying that he needed to make adjustments to his favoured flat baseline strokes to succeed in the slower conditions.
Zverev, who is more comfortable playing with shaped groundstrokes, said he was playing the best clay-court tennis of his life last year at Roland Garros before sustaining an ankle injury against Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. In his Paris run, the German excelled at using heavy spin to open up the court with angles. While Medvedev’s length and movement will make that tougher, Zverev will be eager to test his opponent’s defence in Monte-Carlo.
The third-seeded Medvedev has won four titles in his past five events, in addition to his Indian Wells final run, and he brought his scorching form into the clay-court season on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Lorenzo Sonego. He is not expecting such a straightforward scoreline against Zverev, who beat Alexander Bublik and Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the last 16.
“We’ve had some tough matches,” Medvedev said of their history. “We played for the first time maybe seven years ago on the ATP Tour, and in juniors maybe 12 years ago. I remember I beat him once in a final on clay in juniors, but it’s going to be a different story.
“I saw him in the first two matches, he seemed to be in good shape. I’m just going to have to be at my best.”
Djokovic and Musetti meet for the fourth time and just the second time on clay. Their first ATP Head2Head meeting came in a memorable fourth-round match at Roland Garros in 2021, when the Serbian recovered from losing two tie-breaks and came back from two sets down to advance after Musetti retired in the fifth set.
While Djokovic swept all four sets they played in 2022 with wins in Dubai and at the Rolex Paris Masters, Musetti has been doing some sweeping of his own in Monte-Carlo. The Italian enters the third round after winning three straight 6-0 sets; he followed a 7-6(1), 6-0 win against Miomir Kecmanovic in the opening round with a double bagel against countryman Luca Nardi on Thursday.
In order to keep his winning streak in tact, the 21-year-old will need to stay on the attack against Djokovic. If Musetti can keep the Serbian on his heels and prevent him from settling into the match, he could benefit from the World No. 1’s monthlong spell on the sidelines prior to Monte-Carlo.
In his first competitve action since he lost to Medvedev in the Dubai semis on 3 March, Djokovic eased back into the win column with a 7-6(5), 6-2 result against qualifier Ivan Gakhov to begin his Monte-Carlo campaign.
“It was probably, if you can call it this way, an ugly tennis win for me today,” the Serbian assessed. “I haven’t played my best, particularly in the first set. And I kind of expected that that was going to happen in a way with swirly conditions, a lot of wind today, changing directions.
“It’s different practising and then playing an official match on clay, [where] I guess no two bounces are the same. It’s always quite unpredictable what’s going to happen. But all in all, I’m just pleased with the way I held my nerves I think in the important moments and I managed to clinch the two-set win.”
Recent Miami finalist Jannik Sinner and 2021 Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz, who beat the Italian to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title in South Florida, reached the Monte-Carlo last 16 in contrasting ways.
While Sinner played just 10 games and led Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 3-1 before the Argentine retired, Hurkacz has grinded through six tight sets in his two Monaco matches. The Pole was a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) winner against Laslo Djere in the first round and a 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 victor against Jack Draper on Tuesday.
In the pair’s first clay-court match, Sinner will seek to use his all-court game to level their ATP Head2Head series at 2-2. Both men reached the Monte-Carlo quarter-finals last season, but only one will be among the last eight this year.
While Sinner made at least the semi-finals at each of the year’s first two ATP Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami, Hurkacz is bidding to advance beyond the third round at that level for the first time since his final run last year in Montreal.
In addition to the three matches above, Tsitsipas rounds out the action on Court Rainier III with his matchup against Nicolas Jarry. Like Sinner, the Greek was not on the court long in his opening match. He built a 4-1 lead against Benjamin Bonzi on Tuesday before the Frenchman retired with a wrist injury, while Jarry backed up an opening-round upset of 15th seed Borna Coric with a three-set win against Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday.
Rublev and Khachanov will meet for the first time since 2021 on Court des Princes after teaming up to reach the doubles second round in Monte-Carlo. Rublev came from behind for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win against Jaume Munar on Tuesday, and Khachanov has not lost a set this week in victories against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Ilya Ivashka.
Also on Monte-Carlo’s second stage, Ruud meets Jan-Lennard Struff, Fritz faces Australian Open quarter-finalist Jiri Lehecka and Rune takes on Berrettini for their third meeting.
Three second-round doubles matches are also on the Thursday slate, including second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury’s meeting with Monegasque Romain Arneodo and Austria’s Sam Weissborn.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev claims a straight-set win over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego to move into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Third seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer survived an early scare Wednesday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski also avoided an upset in their clay-season opener.
The El Salvadoran-Dutch duo of Arevalo and Rojer saved seven of eight break points faced to oust Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-5 in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Two-time titlists this season (Delray Beach, Adelaide-2), Arevalo and Rojer will next meet Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the quarter-finals after the German pair cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.
Arevalo and Rojer were semi-finalists in Monaco last season two months before claiming their maiden Grand Slam trophy at Roland Garros, which helped them qualify for the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals.
Koolhof and Skupski were on the brink of defeat Wednesday, but the Dutch-British duo fended off four match points in the Match Tie-break to survive the challenge of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-7(5), 6-3, 14-12.
Seeking their first title of 2023, Koolhof and Skupski won 42 of 49 points off their first delivery to advance to the last eight, where they will clash against Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies.
In first-round action, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah downed Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 6-7(2), 10-5. Wild cards Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn defeated Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4.
After a strong clay campaign last season that saw him win his first ATP Tour title in Munich and reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros, Holger Rune is up and running on the terre battue in 2023.
The Dane picked up where he left off on the surface with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Dominic Thiem on Wednesday night at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
“It’s my first match back on clay so there were a few adjustments to make. But I’m all in all happy with how I handled the situation on court,” Rune said post-match, noting the importance of keeping good depth on his strokes. “Dominic already played a couple of matches [on clay]. He’s a dangerous player. He can hit winners from anywhere in the court so I had to be sharp, move well and play well.”
Making his third appearance in Monaco, Rune is through to the last 16 for the first time. He was beaten by Casper Ruud in each of the past two editions of the event, losing in the opening round of his 2021 debut and in the second round last season.
The 19-year-old will face Matteo Berrettini or Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday, seeking his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and first since he won the Rolex Paris Masters last November.
Thiem played some of his best tennis of the season to beat Richard Gasquet in the Monte-Carlo first round, and he made a strong start against Rune with a love hold on Court Rainier III. But Rune’s Top 10 level was too much for the Austrian in what was a one-sided opening set beyond that.
The World No. 9 pinned Thiem deep behind the baseline with relentless attacking, his electric forehand doing most of the damage as he rattled off five straight games from 1-2 to seal the set. Rune won all 14 of his first-serve points in the opener and finished with an 80 per cent win rate (28/35) behind his first delivery.
While Thiem raised his level in set two, landing heavy baseline blows of his own off both wings, the sixth-seeded Rune did not face a break point until his bid to serve out the match at 5-4. Staring down 15/40, he found two big serves to force deuce before clinching victory on his third match point.
“Of course there were a few moments at the end where I think he had maybe too much time to play,” Rune assessed. “But I think all in all we played on my terms and I’m happy with how I controlled most of the match.”
Rune is up one place to No. 8 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, a mark that would match his career high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — though his position is still under threat by a chasing pack led by Jannik Sinner. The Dane would move past the injured Felix Auger-Aliassime (left knee) at No. 7 in the Live Rankings by reaching the semi-finals in Monaco.
Thiem was seeking his first Top 10 win on clay since defeating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the 2019 Roland Garros semis, and his first Top 10 win overall since beating the Serbian at the same stage of the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals. The defeat dropped him to 4-10 on the season, with his Estoril quarter-final run last week his best result of the year.
Taylor Fritz earned his 50th ATP Masters 1000 win on Wednesday when he overcame former champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6(10), 6-2 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters to reach the third round.
In a tale of two sets, the American saved five set points in a mammoth opener to move ahead, before he stepped up his intensity and level in the second set to triumph after one hour and 39 minutes.
Fritz, who saved two set points on serve at 5-6 and three more in the first-set tie-break, struck 25 winners and committed just seven unforced errors to earn his 21st tour-level win of the season.
The eighth seed reached the quarter-finals in the Principality last year and will aim to match that feat when he takes on Jiri Lehecka after the Czech downed 2022 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-4.
Fritz arrives in Monte-Carlo off the back of a run to the quarter-finals in Miami. He lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Indian Wells in 2021.
Wawrinka was making his 13th appearance at the clay-court event, with his best result a run to the title in 2014.
A change of surface, but no change in Daniil Medvedev’s ability to dominate opponents.
The third seed made an electric start to his 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters campaign on Wednesday by defeating the dangerous free-hitting Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-2.
Medvedev was dialled in from the start of his first clay-court match of the year. He moved into an early 3-0 lead with the help of some delightful early touches at the net and he stayed typically relentless from the baseline throughout to seal an 89-minute victory on Court Rainier III.
“Every match is a struggle [on clay], but I have had some good matches on clay,” said Medvedev. “I managed to play good against a very strong player on clay. Lorenzo is very strong. Here in Monte-Carlo there are a lot of Italians in the crowd, but a lot of French also, so it was fun to play, and I am happy to beat such a tough opponent.”
The World No. 45 Sonego has the weapons to hurt anyone on Tour on his day, but the wild card struggled to turn vocal support from the Italian fans in the crowd into consistency that could challenge Medvedev. The World No. 5 fended off the only break point he faced and won 90 per cent (27/30) of points behind his first serve to clinch his 25th win in his past 26 tour-level matches.
“It’s completely different on clay, but confidence is confidence,” said the 19-time tour-level titlist Medvedev. “It’s about winning matches, because it is always two players that play, and one is going to win… I hope to bring this confidence even further.”
Medvedev, who has lifted hard-court trophies in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami during his recent red-hot run, moves on to a third-round showdown against Alexander Zverev at the ATP Masters 1000 event. The 13th seed earlier eased past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4. It will be the 14th tour-level clash between Medvedev and Zverev, but the first on clay.
“We’ve had some tough matches,” said Medvedev, who leads Zverev 7-6 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series. “We played for the first time maybe seven years ago on the ATP Tour, and in juniors maybe 12 years ago. I remember I beat him once in a final on clay in juniors, but it’s going to be a different story.
“I saw him in the first two matches, he seemed to be in good shape. I’m just going to have to be at my best.”
Another seeded player to notch a confident second-round win on Wednesday was Karen Khachanov. The ninth seed downed Ilya Ivashka 7-6(2), 6-2 to set a third-round showdown against fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
Monte-Carlo 2023
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World No. 21 Lorenzo Musetti has become one of the game’s brightest young stars. A two-time tour-level titlist, the 21-year-old looks to earn one of the biggest wins of his career Thursday, when he meets 22-time major champion Novak Djokovic at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
ATPTour.com caught up with the Italian to discuss his life on Tour, his favourite travel destinations, and how he makes himself feel at home while on the road.
What are two essential non-tennis items you always pack for trips?
Probably headphones and a speaker. I’m pretty obsessed with the music, so I’d say those two things.
When you’re in your room or in the gym, you have music on all the time?
Yeah, with my playlist for sure.
What’s the number one song you listen to?
Depends on the period. I have a lot of playlists. It depends on the mood and when. Right now, I have some Italian songs.
Have you ever forgotten something on a trip that caused problems?
I have forgotten headphones on the plane. I remember it was in Canada so it was not easy. I tried to contact the airline but no lucky results. It was when I was playing juniors.
How much do you enjoy travelling?
It’s one of the nicest things we have in this sport and in our life. You cannot be a tennis player if you don’t like travelling, it would be some sort of opposite thing. For us, we travel the world to try to discover new places, new countries. For me it’s kind of fun and something I’ve always liked. That’s why also I play tennis.
Have you ever played a tournament because you wanted to see the city?
Honestly, no. I’ve had the opportunity to visit a lot of cities for tennis but I never choose one tournament for the city. I’d say it’s for the condition or for the tournament instead.
What’s been your favourite city on Tour and why?
Not including Italy, I would say I like New York a lot. The energy that the city gives you is something unreal. I always like to go to the US Open.
Is there a particular place in New York you like to visit?
Times Square is something you live like in a movie. It’s something really memorable, especially your first time there.
Where’s your favourite place to go for vacation?
Last year I went to Maldives and it was really, really nice. I’d probably say that.
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How much do you think of taking care of your body while travelling?
I try to be as professional as I can, especially when you don’t find something healthy. Especially with food when you go somewhere where you don’t know where to eat, where the meat comes from, you have to adapt yourself like everybody does.
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When you’re on the road, how do you make yourself feel at home?
Going to Italian restaurants. It’s probably the most common thing for my country.
Do you have any tips to get over jetlag?
No, just try to sleep as much as I can on the plane. Try to rest when you get there and plan the practice on the right hours.
Do you like to get to the airport with a lot of time or you don’t like to wait?
I’m the kind who doesn’t like to be late. I’d probably say get there with more time than less.
Great Britain can be successful without Emma Raducanu when they play France this week for a place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, says Katie Boulter.
Jannik Sinner advanced to the third round at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday when Diego Schwartzman was forced to retire with a shoulder injury.
The Italian, who reached the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo last year, produced a ruthless performance in his first clay-court appearance of the season. He overpowered the Argentine with his flat groundstrokes and committed just six unforced errors before Schwartzman was forced to retire with Sinner leading 6-0, 3-1 after 38 minutes.
“I could tell from the beggining he was struggling a lot,” Sinner said. “On the left side with the pain. I wish him the best and hopefully it is nothing serious.”
Sinner is competing at the Principality at a career-high No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after advancing to his second ATP Masters 1000 final in Miami earlier this month. The 21-year-old will next face 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
“I haven’t had loads of time to prepare, but I am happy to play here and play in front of Italian fans,” Sinner said. “Just enjoying every moment and trying my best and having a great attitude every time I step onto the court. I feel not so bad on clay.”
Schwartzman and Sinner were teaming as doubles partners this week. After winning their opening match, the Argentine-Italian pair lost in the second round against Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies.
