Daniil Medvedev started his participation in the tennis tournament in Monte-Carlo with a victory. The fourth-seeded Russian overcame French veteran Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4 in nearly an hour and a half of play.
After an even first four games in the opening set, Medvedev pressed and took four unanswered to take the lead. The second set started with Monfils saving three break points. He held his serve and then broke to make it 3-1 after three more squandered chances for his opponent. However, the Frenchman fell from 4-1 in his favor and did not win a single game until the end of the set.
Medvedev finished with no aces and four double faults, but won 83% of his first serve points. He finished with 11 winners and 11 unforced errors, while Monfils had more winners at 17, but also significantly more errors at 25. Medvedev faces an all-Russian clash with Karen Khachanov, who earlier saw off the opposition of Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.
In the upper half of the scheme, another 1/8-final became clear. Estoril champion Hubert Hurkacz continued his winning streak with a win over Roberto Bautista-Agut and his next opponent is No. 8 seeded Casper Ruud. /BGNES
