Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday made a winning start to the Monte Carlo Masters after the world No. 5 cruised past Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4 and into the last 16.
Greece’s Tsitsipas, who had been given a bye into the second round, took just 1 hour, 24 minutes to beat 29th-ranked Karatsev of Russia.
The 22-year-old exploited 32 unforced errors from Karatsev to set up a clash with either Australia’s John Millman or Chile’s Cristian Garin.
Photo: AFP
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic next faces Jannik Sinner in his second-round match, after Italy’s up-and-coming star saw off Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
Teenager Sinner has risen to 22nd in the world rankings after reaching the final of the Miami Open earlier this month.
“I will definitely have a game plan,” Sinner said, referring to his first meeting with Djokovic. “I know who is on the other side.”
Sinner, one of five Italians to reach the second round in Monte Carlo on Tuesday, is 15-5 so far this year, but is competing in the main draw of a Masters 1000 event for just the fourth time of his career.
Earlier on Tuesday, Daniil Medvedev pulled out of the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. The world No. 2 tested positive on Monday, after having practiced with Rafael Nadal the day before.
Organizers declined to comment on whether third seed Nadal risked being identified as a “close contact” of Medvedev and forced to quarantine.
Nadal is seeded to meet Djokovic in the tournament final, as he chases a 12th triumph at Monte Carlo, an important clay-court tournament in the run-up to the French Open.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
RSS