Breaking News: Tennis Pro Stefanos Tsitsipas Left Because of…
On Monday, Ugo Humbert overcame Federico Coria 4-6 6-1 6-2 to go to the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Grigor Dimitrov, Karen Khachanov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas also advanced without incident.
After dropping the opening set against Argentine Coria, Humbert was eliminated by Italian wildcard Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the previous year, and the 14th-seeded Frenchman appeared to be in trouble once more.
Though it was a setback, the 25-year-old easily won the next two sets, breaking Coria’s serve twice in each contest.
Before defeating Cameron Norrie of Britain, Karen Khachanov was also forced to fight 7-5 7-6(3). The opening set saw the 15th-seeded Russian player’s serve broken twice, and in the second set, he was forced into a tiebreak.
Khachanov easily won the tiebreak after Norrie broke serve twice more in the second set and had two break points to win the set at 6-5. Khachanov responded with three straight aces to retain serve.
In the second round, Khachanov will take on Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
The ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who was recently defeated by Jannik Sinner in the Miami Open final, defeated local wildcard Valentin Vacherot 7-5 6-2 in his first-round encounter.
After Vacherot broke serve in the first game of the first set, Dimitrov—who had won his first ATP title in more than six years at the Brisbane International in January—was pushed hard but eventually rediscovered his rhythm to win the second set with ease.
“I’m just appreciative that I made it through today’s match in that manner. “I understand that I’m currently far from my best, but maybe this can help me improve,” Dimitrov remarked.
Following his opponent Laslo Djere’s injury-affected retirement in the second set, two-time Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas also advances to the next round. After winning the first set 6-3, Tsitsipas led 3-2 when the Serb withdrew.
“This kind of finish surprised me. When I play, this is not something that happens very often,” Greek 12th seed Tsitsipas remarked.
“I performed my job effectively, and naturally, I’m hoping for a rapid recovery for (Djere), as injuries are never enjoyable.”
The top eight seeds advanced to the second round with byes, and world number one Novak Djokovic will play Russian Roman Safiullin on Tuesday. Reuters