Matteo Berrettini’s resurgence and Alexander Zverev’s slump both continued at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
In the blockbuster second-round matchup of the day, Berrettini beat Zverev 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 after two hours and 28 minutes. The Italian fired four aces without double-faulting a single time and broke serve three times against Zverev, who donated six double-faults.
Berrettini served for the match twice in the final set. The world No. 34 got broken at 5-4, but he made no mistake on his second chance at 6-5.
As low as 154th in the rankings last year, Berrettini is almost certain to be seeded at the French Open since he has zero points to defend until mid-June. Meanwhile, Zverev continues to make zero headway in his quest for the No. 1 ranking with Jannik Sinner suspended for three months. The second-ranked German is 6-7 in his last 13 matches dating back to the Australian Open final.
“The game-plan was the same, but I changed my attitude and the way I was believing in my strokes,” Berrettini assessed. “I wasn’t hitting my forehand and serve like I had in previous days and I had to adapt and adjust to the conditions and Sascha was playing unbelievable, so it was not easy. Then I told myself to be more aggressive and if I am going to lose this match, I am going to do the right things and luckily it worked.”
Also advancing on Tuesday was Frances Tiafoe, who had only one day off in between tournaments in Houston and Monte-Carlo. After finishing runner-up to Jenson Brooksby at the former this past Sunday, Tiafoe won his opening match at the latter. The American saved one match point and battled past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5).
Tiafoe will face Alexei Popyrin in the second round on Wednesday. Berrettini will have some rest before going up against either Lorenzo Musetti or Jiri Lehecka on Thursday.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.