Ruud, Birthday Boy Berrettini Win At Monte Carlo Masters; Djokovic, Medvedev v Zverev Thurs.

by Staff | April 12th, 2023, 6:34 pm
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It was another solid 8-1 day for seeds at the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

French Open finalist Casper Ruud continued his clay run topping Botic Van De Zandschulp in straights 7-5, 7-6(7-1).

“It is never easy to start at a new tournament and against a player I have lost to before,” Ruud said to the ATP. “Also more recently in Miami this year, which was a tough three-setter. I was a bit sloppy and didn’t take my chances. Sometimes it is a little tricky playing someone you recently lost to, like ‘Not again’, but in this case I was a bit happy because I felt like some unfinished business from the Miami match.”


There were nine breaks of serve in the match as the 24-year-old Ruud is now 5-0 on the clay following his Estoril title. Ruud saved a set point in the second.

Ruud will now face Jan-Lennard Struff who scored the lone seeded upset of the day eliminated Alex De Minaur.

Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev made his clay debut for 2023 and had win over Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 6-3, 6-2. Medvedev has now won 26 of his last 27 matches as he now focusses on his least favorite surface.

“Every match is a struggle, but I have had some good matches on clay,” said Medvedev to the ATP. “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.

“It’s completely different on clay, but confidence is confidence,” he said. “It’s about winning matches, because it is always two players that play, and one is going to win.”

The Russian will now face rival Alexander Zverev tomorrow. Medvedev leads Zverev 7-6 in their tour-level meetings including a recent at Indian Wells Masters.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, No. 7 seed Jannik Sinner got a retirement from Diego Schwartzman up 6-0, 3-1. retired. No. 6 seed Holger Rune breezed past Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-4.

No. 8 Taylor Fritz bested former tournament champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6(12-10), 6-2. Fritz is now 13-2 in breakers this year. Matteo Berrettini celebrated his 27th birthday with a win over 5-7, 7-6(7-1), 6-4. The Italian led 5-0 in the first!

Karen Khachanov and No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti also advanced. Musetti will now face No. 1 Novak Djokovic tomorrow. Djokovic has won all three tour-level clashes with Musetti. They last meet in the 2022 Paris Masters quarterfinals.

Also tomorrow, 2-time defending champion No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas locks up with Nicolas Jarry. Jarry was the victor in their sole meeting in the 2019 s-Hertogenbosch event.

No. 5 Andrey Rublev draws No. 9 Karen Khachanov, No. 6 Holger Rune faces Matteo Berrettini, No. 7 Jannik Sinner takes on No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz and No. 8 Taylor Fritz battles Jiri Lehecka.

THURSDAY MONTE CARLO SCHEDULE
COURT RAINIER III
Matches Start At: 11:00 am
Hubert HURKACZ (POL) [10] vs Jannik SINNER (ITA) [7]
Nicolas JARRY (CHI) vs Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [2]
Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) [1] vs Lorenzo MUSETTI (ITA) [16]
Daniil MEDVEDEV [3] vs Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [13]

COURT DES PRINCES
Matches Start At: 11:00 am
[Q] Jan-Lennard STRUFF (GER) vs Casper RUUD (NOR) [4]
Andrey RUBLEV [5] vs Karen KHACHANOV [9]
Taylor FRITZ (USA) [8] vs Jiri LEHECKA (CZE)
Matteo BERRETTINI (ITA) vs Holger RUNE (DEN) [6]


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