Dominic Thiem will compete in the Millennium Estoril Open for the first time after accepting a wild card into the ATP 250 clay-court event, which will take place from 25 April-1 May.

“Hello everyone, I wanted to let you know that recovery of COVID is going well and I’ll be ready to compete again in a few days. As a matter of fact, I would like to thank the Millennium Estoril Open for the invitation and wild card to play the event this year in Cascais,” Thiem said. “I’ve heard great things about the event and I am looking forward to coming to Portugal to play and to start my comeback. Thank you.”

The Austrian, who is set to play his first tour-level event of the season at next week’s Serbia Open, is a 17-time tour-level titlist. He has lifted 10 of his trophies on clay.

Thiem last June suffered a tear in his right wrist, which kept him out for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old returned to action two weeks ago at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella, where he lost in the first round against Pedro Cachin.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Cameron Norrie and Diego Schwartzman are also set to compete in Estoril, where Albert Ramos-Vinolas is the defending champion.

Sebastian Korda earned the biggest win of his season Wednesday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, edging #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach the third round.

World No. 11 Alcaraz arrived in Monte Carlo in red-hot form, having captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami. However the 18-year-old, who was making his debut at the clay-court event, was unable to cope with Korda’s heavy-hitting, variety and depth of shot in windy conditions on Court Rainier III.

The American rallied from a break down in the third set as he struck the ball with fierce accuracy throughout to disrupt Alcaraz’s rhythm and advance after three hours and four minutes. With victory, Korda gained revenge for his defeat to Alcaraz at the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, where the Spaniard triumphed in the championship match.

Korda, who eliminated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the first round, is also competing in Monte Carlo for the first time. The World No. 42 will next face Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz or Croatian Marin Cilic as he aims to reach his second quarter-final of the season, after advancing to the last eight in Delray Beach.

The 21-year-old has tasted success on clay before, with his only tour-level title coming on the surface in Parma last year. Meanwhile, Alcaraz became the youngest ATP 500 champion when he captured the trophy on clay in Rio de Janeiro in February.

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In an entertaining match between two of the most exciting prospects on Tour, Alcaraz and Korda had to demonstrate good footwork to cope with the wind. Korda raced into a 4-2 lead in the first set, however, Alcaraz then started to find his range, rolling off three straight games.

He was twice unable to serve out the set though as Korda returned with great depth before playing the more consistent tennis in the tie-break to lead. Korda then showed his fighting spirit in the second set as he battled back from 0-3 down as both players struggled to find their range from the baseline in a topsy-turvy clash. The American saved three set points on serve at 4-5, leaving another tie-break to decide the set.

Alcaraz demonstrated his recent winning mentality in the tie-break, hanging in rallies and executing drop shots to perfection to level. The cat-and-mouse points continued in the third set, with both looking to drag each other around the court with deft touches. The match remained finely poised until deep into the deciding set, when Korda broke to move 5-3 ahead. The American then served out to triumph.

Stemming from his love and passion for helping animals, Denis Shapovalov has launched ShapoShelter to take his commitment to a new level. The Canadian’s new initiative will amplify the needs of animal shelters by highlighting stories of dogs and cats in need.

“I’ve been supporting different shelters throughout the years,” said the World No. 15. “I’ve got so many pets of my own, so I’m really excited to announce that I’ve put together a team and have started my own page called ShapoShelter, which is going to help out different shelters around the world promote their animals, both dogs and cats, and try to help them find new homes.”

In its initial phase, ShapoShelter is a social media initiative and website designed to support the Humane Society of Manatee County, the Humane Society of Greater Miami and Adopta Un Amigo Para Siempre in Mexico City. As part of Miami Open Unites, Shapovalov recently visited the Miami facility alongside fellow stars like Matteo Berrettini and the WTA Tour’s Belinda Bencic.

Working with friends Cornelius Haarmann and Nadia Abdala, Shapovalov is keen to expand his support to other animal shelters around the world.

“With ShapoShelter, we’re going to highlight the stories of these poor animals that can’t tell their own stories in hopes to find them new homes,” he explained, “as well as tell the stories of all of these different shelters and different organisations trying to help these beautiful animals.

“Hopefully ShapoShelter can help find many more animals their forever homes and give them a chance to have a great life.”

Fellow animal lovers can learn more about the Canadian’s initiative at ShapoShelter.com and by following @ShapoShelter on Instagram and Twitter.

I am so excited to announce the launch of @ShapoShelter! 🐾

I have a huge love for animals and over the years I’ve heard so many cruel stories about animals that were so helpless and I’ve always wanted to do more to help them. 🙏🏼❤️ pic.twitter.com/FVysqukLpe

— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) April 11, 2022

Over the weekend Holger Rune did double-duty, completing his title run at the Sanremo Challenger while qualifying for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters less than an hour’s drive away. The confidence is showing in the #NextGenATP Dane’s play.

Rune defeated Aslan Karatsev 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-3 after two hours and 33 minutes on Tuesday to reach the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event.

“Eight solid matches in eight days and now we continue to [the] second round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters,” Rune wrote on Instagram.

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The World No. 79, who gained 12 spots in the ATP Rankings following his ATP Challenger Tour victory last week, saved seven of the 10 break points he faced against Karatsev. He will next face fourth seed Casper Ruud, with the winner to face former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, who rallied past Serbian Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.

One year ago, Ruud defeated Rune 6-2, 6-1 in Monte Carlo. But Rune has an opportunity to earn his revenge against the Norwegian and claim his first Top 10 win.

The 18-year-old Rune is one of two teens inside the world’s Top 100, with the other being recent Miami Open presented by Itau champion Carlos Alcaraz. Both competed in last year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

Wednesday’s play at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will whittle the men’s singles draw down to the last 16, with a star-studded lineup set to grace the red clay courts in Monaco.

Carlos Alcaraz will make his debut at the ATP Masters 1000 event, fresh off his first title at that level in Miami. The Spaniard will open play on Court Rainier III, with Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev to follow. Four more Top 10 seeds headline the action on Court Des Princes.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

[8] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. Sebastian Korda (USA)

Alcaraz’s scintillating 10-1 run in Indian Wells and Miami left many wondering if hard courts may be his best surface. But the 18-year-old grew up on clay courts in Spain, and already has two clay titles to his name in Umag and Rio de Janeiro. 

Entering Monte Carlo at a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 11, Alcaraz has a chance to once again showcase his prowess on the dirt.

“I’m so excited to play after the Masters 1000 in Miami,” he said after arriving in Monaco for the first time. “I’m really excited to play on clay and really excited to play in front of the Monte Carlo crowd.”

He will face a tough opening test against 21-year-old Sebastian Korda, who pushed Rafael Nadal to a third-set tie-break in Indian Wells. The World No. 42 American knocked off Botic van de Zandschulp, 7-5, 6-4, in the Monte Carlo first round.

Their Wednesday meeting is a rematch of the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals championship match, which Alcaraz won in straight sets. But despite his growing trophy collection, Alcaraz remains grounded.  

“I will always be the same person. l will never change,” he said in a pre-tournament interview. “I’ll just be confident, of course, doing the selifes, doing autographs and everything. But I will be always the same person.”

(6) Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)

Two more youngsters will battle it out on the Monte Carlo show court as the 21-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on 20-year-old #NextGenATP star Lorenzo Musetti. The pair split their previous two ATPHead2Head meetings, with both matches requiring three sets during the European clay swing in 2021.

After reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals and taking a two-set lead against Daniil Medvedev, Auger-Aliassime had a career month in February. He followed up his first ATP Tour title in Rotterdam by reaching the Marseille final, but slumped to two first-round exits at the March Masters 1000s. The Canadian will look to recapture his early-season form in Monte Carlo, where he has one win in three appearances. 

“I feel good. I know the things I could have done better in those matches that I’ve lost,” he said, reflecting on his recent performances. “I feel like overall my tennis is improving. I’m figuring out myself more and more, becoming a better player… I’m confident I can play well on this clay swing.”

Musetti picked up his first Monte Carlo victory in a 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2 result over Benoit Paire on Tuesday. The World No. 83 is making his second appearance in Monaco.

(2) Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. Federico Delbonis (ARG)

Alexander Zverev has won three clay-court ATP Masters 1000 titles and reached the Monte Carlo semi-finals in 2018, but has not been beyond the last 16 since in Monaco. The World No. 3 and two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion reached the Miami quarter-finals in his last appearance, and counts a run to the Montpellier final as his best result on the season.

Federico Delbonis ended a five-match losing streak by beating Jaume Munar, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Monday and will seek his first victory against the German on Wednesday. Zverev leads the pair’s ATPHead2Head series 2-0, with both matches coming on clay in 2019.

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Best Of The Rest

With eight of the tournament’s Top 10 seeds in action Wednesday, there’s no shortage of star power. The only Top 10 seeds not in action are Stefanos Tsitsipas (through to the last 16 after a 6-3, 6-0 win over Fabio Fognini) and Novak Djokovic (eliminated by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina).

Rounding out the play on Court Rainier III is fourth seed Casper Ruud’s matchup with Danish qualifier and #NextGenATP contender Holger Rune.

Court Des Princes will feature Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner, with Rublev taking on Alex de Minaur in the evening’s final match.

Three doubles matches complete the Day 4 slate, with second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic set to take on Tsitsipas and brother Petros Tsitsipas on Court 2 after three singles matches.

SCHEDULE – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12

COURT RAINIER III start 11:00 a.m.

[8] C. Alcaraz (ESP) vs. S. Korda (USA)
[4] C. Ruud (NOR) vs. [Q] Holger Rune (DEN)
[6] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs. L. Musetti (ITA)
[2] A. Zverev (GER) vs. F. Delbonis (ARG)

COURT DES PRINCES start 11:00 a.m.

[7] C. Norrie (GBR) vs. A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
[10] T. Fritz (USA) vs. M. Cilic (CRO)
[9] J. Sinner (ITA) vs. [Q] E. Ruusuvuori
[5] A. Rublev vs. A. de Minaur (AUS)

COURT 2 start 11:00 a.m.

[16] L. Sonego vs. L. Djere (SRB)
D. Evans (GBR) vs. [WC] D. Goffin (BEL)
[12] D. Schwartzman (ARG) vs. M. Fucsovics (HUN)
[2] N. Mektic (CRO) / M. Pavic (CRO) vs. P. Tsitsipas (GRE) / S. Tsitsipas (GRE)

COURT 9 start 11:00 a.m.
[6] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs. S. Gonzalez (MEX) / A. Molteni (ARG)
[11] H. Hurkacz (POL) vs. P. Martinez (ESP)
[13] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) vs. A. Bublik (KAZ)

COURT 11 start 2:00 p.m.
[5] T. Puetz (GER) / M. Venus (AUS) vs. A. Karatsev / J. Peers (AUS)

Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev pulled off a shock win at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday, powering past 2016 champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut to reach the quarter-finals on their ATP Masters 1000 team debut.

The big-serving Brazilian-German duo ran out 7-5, 6-4 winners over Herbet and Mahut, who came into the second-round clash with a 7-1 team record for 2022 having clinched a 22nd ATP Tour title in Montpellier in February.

According to Infosys ATP Stats, Melo and Zverev won 80 per cent (37/46) of points behind their first delivery in the match. This gave the wild cards a foundation from which to attack, and they broke their opponents three times on the way to victory in 81 minutes.

Melo and Zverev’s quarter-final opponents will be Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer, after the eighth seeds overcame Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 6-3, 6-3. El Salvadorian Arevalo and Dutchman Rojer are hunting their third title of 2022 after triumphing on the hard courts in Dallas and Delray Beach.

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The first round was completed on Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Country Club, with the final three matches played. Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar edged out Croatian pairing Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig with a 2-6, 6-4, 10-4 win, while there was also Match Tie-break joy for Daniel Evans and Diego Schwartzman, who beat Monagesque wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys 4-6, 7-5, 12-10.

Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni also advanced to the second round, taking out Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-4. The Mexican-Argentine pairing has already clinched two clay-court titles in 2022, lifting the trophies in Cordoba and Buenos Aires, but is still seeking a maiden Masters 1000 crown.

In a matchup of the last two Monte Carlo champions, defending champ Stefanos Tsitsipas overwhelmed 2019 winner Fabio Fognini on Tuesday evening.

The Greek continued his dominant form at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters with a 6-3, 6-0 win. After claiming the 2021 title without dropping a set, he extended his streak to 11 consecutive sets with the victory. 

Adapting to the unusually cold and windy conditions at the Monte Carlo Country Club, Tsitsipas made a fast start in his first clay-court match of the season.

“Great things out there. I was able to really perform close to my best and deliver the result that I did,” Tsitsipas assessed, noting the conditions limited the typical clay-court bounce of the ball. “Nevertheless, I was still able to generate some good pace and create some good angles which gave me a lot of points.”

A @steftsitsipas winner from court-level 😍#RolexMCMasters pic.twitter.com/IJYTCky5gR

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 12, 2022

Tsitsipas won the opening three games of each set, and while Fognini was able to come back to level the first, he had no answers beyond that as the third seed pressed home his advantage. From 3-3 in the opening set, Tsitsipas reeled off the last nine games in a row to ease into the last 16. The turning point of set two came in the second game as Tsitsipas erased a pair of break points across four deuces to consolidate an opening break.

As the Italian’s resistance waned, Tsitsipas raced through the second set in 30 minutes. He saved six of seven break points across both sets and was aided by 34 unforced errors from Fognini.

Tsitsipas’ dominance was reflected in the Balance of Power breakdown, showing that the Greek was in an attacking position 24% of the time compared to Fognini’s 14%. (Learn more about Balance of Power.)

The 23-year-old can now enjoy a day off as he awaits the winner of Wednesday’s second-round matchup between 16th seed Lorenzo Sonego and Serbia’s Laslo Djere.

While Tsitsipas is the defending champion, Fognini was defending 500 ATP Ranking points in Monte Carlo — half of the 1,000 points he earned for winning the 2019 title.

Despite being disappointed after his stunning second-round Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters loss on Tuesday, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was quick to praise the man who defeated him, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

“I would like to congratulate Alejandro. He was the better player. He managed to find a better rhythm I think in the first two sets,” Djokovic said. “I was hanging on the ropes the entire match. I was really chasing the result constantly.”

It seemed the two-time tournament champion would take over the match after escaping the second-set tie-break, in which he was two points from losing in straight sets. The Serbian urged the crowd to get involved and had a big smile on his face as the fans cheered for him

But Davidovich Fokina never went away. Although Djokovic battled until the end, he was unable to raise his level consistently enough to claw past the Spaniard.

“I always believed that I could come back and win the match, and I stayed there even though a lot of things were against me in terms of how I felt on the court. Game-wise, physically I was just far from my best,” Djokovic said. “So of course in those types of conditions and circumstances, then you have to really work two times more than you normally would. And again, I played a clay-court specialist. He had a match already on centre court a few days ago.

“I expected this match to be [a] really tough match, [a] physical battle, and that’s what it was. Unfortunately I’m on the shorter end of the stick, and my week ends here.”

Djokovic has not advanced past the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo since 2015, the last time he won the title. The slow start to his clay-court season did not surprise the Serbian.

“I knew a few days ago when I spoke to you that it’s going to take some time for me to really feel my best on the clay,” Djokovic said. “That’s historically always been the case. [I have] never played very well in the opening tournaments of the clay season.

“But it’s okay. Obviously it is what it is. I have to accept the defeat and keep working.”

What concerned the World No. 1 most was how he felt in the deciding set, in which he won just 45 per cent of his service points.

“I didn’t like the way I felt physically in the third. I just ran out of the gas completely,” Djokovic said. “Just couldn’t really stay in the rally with him. I mean, if you can’t stay in the rally, not feeling your legs on the clay, it’s mission impossible.”

The 34-year-old does not have much time to get back on track. Djokovic will be in action next week on home soil at the Serbia Open in Belgrade.

“I’m going to look with my team into reasons why that was the case and go back to the drawing board,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully next week will be better in Belgrade.”

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is showing plenty about his tennis by battling Novak Djokovic in a deciding set at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. But something that you might not know about the Spaniard off the court is that he loves animals.

Davidovich Fokina last year launched Adoptas.org, a platform that helps facilitate the adoption of pets from Spanish shelters. It also provides information to help people better understand the adoption process.

“[I’ve loved animals] since I was little, even though I was not allowed to have pets as a child because my mom thought they gave me allergies,” Davidovich Fokina said last year. “After school, I used to play for hours with a dog that would come up to my door, and I would pet her.

“Whenever I see a stray animal, I go to the store and get something to feed it. And if it’s in bad shape, I call a shelter. Pets are not stuffed toys and they should not be mistreated. I have two cats and they are like my children to me, it would never occur to me to abandon them or mistreat them.”

The 22-year-old carries his care for animals onto the court, too. If you look at his shirt, Adoptas.org is on his sleeve. The project remains one of Davidovich Fokina’s biggest passions.

“Announcing this makes me more nervous than playing tennis,” Davidovich Fokina said around the time of the platform’s launch. “I’m doing this out of a love for animals, and because I’m outraged by pet abandonment.”