Tabilo earns epic Monte-Carlo win, denies Djokovic-Wawrinka clash

Alejandro Tabilo won a first-round epic on Monday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he prevailed in a topsy-turvy deciding set to deny a Stan Wawrinka-Novak Djokovic clash in The Principality.

Facing Wawrinka on Court Rainier III, Tabilo recovered from a slow start and held his nerve after squandering a 5-3 lead in the deciding set to eventually prevail 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Wawrinka, 40, was making his 15th appearance in The Principality, the fourth most in the Open Era. The 2014 champion was trying to record just his second tour-level win of the season and looked impressive at times against Tabilo, taking large cuts from both wings to overpower the Chilean in the early stages.

However, Tabilo refused to go away. The 27-year-old won 52 per cent of points on the Wawrinka first serve in the third set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and earned victory on his third match point, having squandered a chance at 4-5.

Tabilo had not won a tour-level match on clay since Rome last year, losing eight matches in a row on the surface.  His reward for getting over the line is a meeting with two-time champion and former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Djokovic. Their only previous meeting came in Rome in 2024, when Tabilo shocked the Serbian en route to the semi-finals.

In other early action on Day 2, Jiri Lehecka overcame Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6(7). The Czech is competing on clay for the first time since he advanced to the semi-finals in Madrid last season. He will take on Lorenzo Musetti after the Italian battled back to defeat Buyunchaokete.

Musetti upset Djokovic en route to the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo in 2023, but it looked like he would be exiting early at this year’s event. However, from a set-and-a-break down, the 23-year-old earned a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win against the Chinese qualifier.

Gael Monfils continued his impressive season with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 comeback win against Fabian Marozsan. The Frenchman holds a 6-2 record at ATP Masters 1000 events in 2025, having reached the third round in Indian Wells and the fourth round in Miami.

The 38-year-old, who won the title in Auckland earlier this season, made his debut in The Principality in 2005, losing to Rafael Nadal in the first round. Still going strong 20 years later, Monfils will play seventh seed Andrey Rublev in the second round.

Daniel Altmaier shocked Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros two years ago and earned another impressive win on clay Monday when he defeated 16th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(5), 6-3 to clinch his first main-draw victory at the event. The German qualifier will next meet Richard Gasquet.

American Marcos Giron improved to 3-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Denis Shapovalov with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win.