Rublev, who advanced to the Principality final in 2021, outclassed Munar after two hours and twelve minutes by clubbing 36 winners and breaking Munar's serve six times.
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At the Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday, Andrey Rublev escaped danger in the second round to win his 250th match at the tour-level. At the clay-court competition, the fifth seed overcame a set deficit to defeat Spaniard Jaume Munar 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Rublev, who advanced to the Principality final in 2021, outclassed Munar after two hours and twelve minutes by clubbing 36 winners and breaking Munar’s serve six times. After dropping the first set, they made a strong comeback.
“The feeling was, ‘No way, I might be out in the first round of Monaco.’ Then, I don’t know, I started to feel I had to change something, I had to play more aggressive,” Rublev said in his on-court interview. “I cannot just push the ball because in the end he [was] running much better than me and in the end he [was] waiting for the right moment and he changed much easier [the direction] because I [was] not putting pressure on him.”
The 25-year-old is now up 2-1 against the 83rd-ranked Spaniard in the world and will next play either qualifier Ilya Ivashka, Karen Khachanov, or Daniel Evans. Khachanov defeated 2022 Monte-Carlo finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, earlier in the day. The World No. 11 has advanced to the semi-finals in Miami earlier this month and has won five of his last six games.
When Benjamin Bonzi was forced to withdraw from the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday due to a wrist injury, Stefanos Tsitsipas moved on to the third round. With punishing serves and forehands, the two-time defending champion was enjoying his return to the clay courts of Monaco, but Bonzi was unable to last past 22 minutes due to Tsitsipas’s 4-1 advantage on Court Rainier III. Aiming to become the third player to win the Monte-Carlo title at least three times in a row, the second seed awaits Nicolas Jarry or Alexei Popyrin, with the pair set to square off on Wednesday in the Principality.
“A great start out there. A 3-0 lead, I will always take it,” Tsitsipas said post-match. “Happy to be back on the terre bateau of Monte-Carlo. It’s a very unique location during the year and I’m happy this is the time of the year we get to play on these courts. It brings back very good memories. It’s very unfortunate what happened out there for my opponent. I wish him the best moving forward.”
After losing to Daniil Medvedev in the third round of the 2019 Monte-Carlo tournament, Tsitsipas’ victory on Tuesday extended his winning streak to 11 games. The World No. 3 has dropped to No. 5 trailing Casper Ruud and Daniil Medvedev. With his record now standing at 15-4 this season, Tsitsipas improved to 3-0 against Bonzi with the win. Due to his injury, the Frenchman was unable to compete against the Australian Open finalist for what might have been his first Top 10 victory.
