Alexander Zverev rallied from one set down to move past Alexander Bublik 3-6 6-4 6-2 on Court Rainier III in 1 hour and 58 minutes reaching the third round at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
Zverev was playing his first match on clay since he was forced to withdraw from the 2022 Roland Garros semifinal against Rafael Nadal due to a right ankle injury.
Bublik earned his first break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Zverev broke straight back in the fifth game for 2-3. Bublik broke for the second time in the sixth game to open up a 4-2 lead. The Kazakh served out the first set at 30 in the ninth game.
Zverev bounced back in the second set and earned an immediate break in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Bublik broke back in the fifth game for 2-3. Zverev earned two consecutive breaks in the sixth and eighth game to close out the second set 6-4.
Zverev broke in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Bublik broke straight back in the fifth game and held serve to love to draw level to 3-3. Zverev sealed the win with his second break in the 10th game to set up a second round match against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Zverev hit 21 winners to 9 unforced errors. Bublik hit 16 winners and made only three unforced errors. The German player has improved to 1-2 in his three head-to-head series against Bublik.
Zverev reached the semifinals in Monte-Carlo in 2018 and 2022. He won three Masters 1000 titles on clay in Rome 2017 and Madrid in 2018 and 2022.
“It felt awful at times to be honest, but he made me awful. Tactically he played well, he did not let me play my game at all. He did not let me feel awful. Tactically, he did not let me play my game at all. He did not le me have my rhythm and he almost won the match, just a few points here and there. I have had two weeks of practise now. It is the most natural surface for me. It usually takes me 5 or 10 minutes to get used to a clay court, but this year was a bit different. I needed to get the injury out of my head. I needed to get used to sliding doors”, said Zverev.
Andrey Rublev came back from a set down to beat Jaume Munar 4-6 6-2 6-2 after 2 hours and 12 minutes earning his 250th match on the ATP Tour. Rublev fired 36 winners and broke six times.
Rublev earned an immediate break in the first game of the opening set. Munar converted his third break-back point in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. The Spaniard converted his second break point at deuce in the 10th game to win the first set 6-4.
Rublev broke three times to race out to a 5-0 lead. Munar pulled one break back in the sixth game to reduce his game to 2-5. Rublev served out the second set at 30 to force the match to the decider.
Rublev broke twice in the third and seventh games to win the third set 6-2 after 2 hours and 12 minutes.
“The feeling was: ‘No way, I might be out in the first round of Monaco’. I started to feel to change something. I had to play more aggressive. I cannot just push the ball because in the end he was running much better than me and in the end he was waiting for the right moment and he changed much easier the direction because I was not putting pressure on me”, said Rublev.
Karen Khachanov cruised past 2022 Monte-Carlo finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2 6-2 with two breaks of serve. Khachanov has won five of his six matches after reaching the semifinals in Miami earlier this month.
Two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the third round when Benjamin Bonzi was forced to withdraw from the match with a wrist injury after five games, when the Greek player was leading 4-1.
Tsitsipas has extended his winning streak in Monte-Carlo to 11 consecutive matches following a third-round loss to Danil Medvedev in 2019.
Tsitsipas will face either Nicolas Jarry or Alexey Popyrin.
“A great start here. A 3-0 lead, I will always take it. I am happy to be back on the terre battue of Monte-Carlo. It’s very unique location during the year and I am happy this is the time of the year we get to play on these courts. It brings back very good memories. It’s very unfortunate what happened out for my opponent. I wish him the best moving forward”, said Tsitsipas.
Lorenzo Sonego came back from one set down to beat Ugo Humbert 3-6 7-5 7-5 in a hard-fought match after almost 3 hours. Both players went on serve in the first five games. Humbert hit three winners to break serve at love in the sixth game to open up a 5-2 lead. Humbert made a double fault on the set point in the ninth game, but he sealed the first set 6-3 with two forehand winners.
Sonego faced a break point in the fifth game of the second set. Humbert made a forehand error and Sonego held his serve. Both players went on serve until 4-4. Humbert converted his second break point in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead, but Sonego pulled back on serve to draw level to 5-5. Sonego saved two break points in the 11th game before sealing the second set 7-5 with a break in the 12th game.
Humbert earned a break in the third game to take a 3-1 lead. Sonego saved two break points in the seventh game before breaking back to draw level to 4-4. Humbert broke again in the ninth game to take a 5-4. Sonego saved four match points before breaking back to draw level to draw level to 5-5 before sealing the win with break in the 12th game.
Lorenzo Musetti beat Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 after 1 hour and 30 minutes. Musetti won 77% of his first serve points and fired 19 winners to just 5 unforced errors. Kecmanovic earned two break points in the seventh game, but Musetti saved them with a service winner and a forehand. Musetti earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-1.
Musetti broke three times to take a bagel win in the second set in just 21 minutes. The two-time ATP Tour titlist won 81% of his first serve points and 64% of his second serve. He hit 25 winners and committed seven unforced errors.
Musetti set up an Italian second round clash against Luca Nardi, who won his first Masters 1000 match with a 7-5 7-5 win over Monegasque Valentin Vecherot.
Nardi saved a break point in the sixth game before breaking serve in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead after a double fault from Vecherot. Vecherot broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Nardi earned another break in the 11th game to take the first set 7-5.
Nardi saved a break point in the second set. The Italian player broke serve in the third game and held his serve to open up a 3-1 lead. Vecherot saved four double break points in the sixth game before breaking back to draw level to 4-4. The local player held serve to take a 5-4 lead. Nardi earned his second break in the 11th game and served out the win to love.
Grigor Dimitrov overcame Next Gen US player Ben Shelton 6-1 3-6 6-3 after 2 hours and 12 minutes to reach the second round in Monte-Carlo for the 11th time in his career.
Dimitrov broke twice in the fourth and sixth games to win the first set 6-1. Shelton earned his first break in the eighth game and saved four break points to hold serve in the ninth game after eight aces to win the second set 6-3. Shelton saved three break points to hold serve at deuce in the second game for 1-1. Dimitrov converted his third break point from 30-40 down in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. The Bulgarian player held his final three service games to seal the third set 6-3.
Hubert Hurkacz beat Jack Draper 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-5. The Polish player broke twice to race out to a 5-0 lead. Draper pulled one break back and won three consecutive games to reduce the gap to 3-5. Hurkacz served out the first set to 15 with an ace.
Draper opened up a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Hurkacz came back by winning three consecutive games with a break-back in the fifth game to draw level to 3-3. Both players held on their next service games to set up a tie-break. Draper hit a forehand down the line to win the tie-break 7-3 setting up a third set.
Hurkacz broke serve in the sixth game after a double-fault to take a 4-2 lead. Draper broke straight back and held serve to 30 to draw level to 4-4. Hurkacz broke serve from 0-40 down to close out the third set 7-5.
