Rublev Races Into Third Round

Andrey Rublev needed just 68 minutes to claim his first win of the European clay swing on Wednesday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The sixth seed ripped 11 forehand winners in his 6-3, 6-2 win against Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso on Court Rainier III. Rublev is through to the third round in the Principality for the first time.

“I am happy with my game for the first match of the clay season,” said Rublev in his post-match interview. “I was a little bit tight because obviously I didn’t practise a lot on clay and I didn’t play matches before.

“Caruso was playing [from] qualifying, so he [had got] used to the clay already and on clay he is really dangerous. I am really happy that I could win in straight sets.”

Rublev’s win against Caruso extends his tour-leading wins total this year to 21 matches (21-4). Last year’s Roland Garros quarter-finalist is aiming to capture his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title this week.

The World No. 8 established control of the match from the first ball. Rublev used his forehand throughout the match to dictate play from the baseline and push Caruso into defensive positions. The eight-time ATP Tour titlist closed the match with a cross-court forehand winner.

Rublev will meet ninth seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarter-finals. The Spaniard needed 90 minutes to record a 6-3, 6-4 victory against American Tommy Paul. Rublev owns a 2-3 ATP Head2Head record against Bautista Agut, but he won the pair’s only previous encounter on clay in last year’s Hamburg European Open quarter-finals.

Cristian Garin backed up his victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime with another straight-sets win on Wednesday. The Santiago champion created 16 break points en route to a 6-1, 6-4 victory against John Millman. Garin will face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round.

Former Top 10 star Lucas Pouille also made it through to the third round. The French wild card overcame Singapore champion Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to book a meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard upset eighth seed Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday.

Did You Know?
Two years ago, ranked No. 90 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Rublev held a 6-4, 4-1 lead against eventual champion Fabio Fognini before falling in three sets.