Monday Preview: Karatsev, Musetti Bring First-Round Fireworks In Monte-Carlo
Main draw action in singles and doubles continues in earnest at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with Fabio Fognini, Felix Auger-Aliassime and more hitting the clay court on Monday.
Italy’s Fognini will make his return to the Monte-Carlo Country Club as he begins his first ATP Masters 1000 title defense against Miomir Kecmanovic. Fognini, seeded 15th, will attempt to bring his ATP Tour trophy haul into the double digits and improve his 17-10 record in the Principality.
Fognini and Kecmanovic will contest the third match on Court Rainier III on a busy Monday in Monte-Carlo, which features 13 singles and three doubles matches. All eyes will be on #NextGenATP Felix Auger-Aliassime as he makes his debut with a new coach, Toni Nadal, on his team. The unseeded Canadian takes on 16th seed Cristian Garin, who will be contesting his first main draw match in Monte-Carlo.
One of the first-round matches of the tournament leads the action on Court Rainier III as wild card Lorenzo Musetti and Aslan Karatsev face off. Both players are in the best form of their careers and arrive in Monaco in the midst of major breakthroughs.
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Karatsev didn’t miss a beat after his huge run from Australian Open qualifying into his first Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne. The Russian backed it up by lifting his first ATP Tour trophy a few weeks later at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings and a Monte-Carlo resident, turned heads earlier in the season at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco. The 19-year-old qualifier toppled Diego Schwartzman, Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov on his way to the semi-finals (l. Tsitsipas). The winner will face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has picked the #NextGenATP Italian for the rematch.
Also in action, 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz will contest his first match since winning the Miami Open presented by Itau, alongside Dimitrov, the 14th seed, and French favourite Ugo Humbert.
First-round doubles action also continues with wild cards Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas taking on eighth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau. Fifth seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury and sixth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot also feature on the schedule.
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SCHEDULE - MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
COURT RAINIER III start 11:00 am
[WC] L. Musetti (ITA) vs A. Karatsev (RUS)
F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs [16] C. Garin (CHI)
[15] F. Fognini (ITA) vs M. Kecmanovic (SRB)
[14] G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs J. Struff (GER)
COURT DES PRINCES start 11:00 am
J. Millman (AUS) vs U. Humbert (FRA)
Not Before 12:30 pm
D. Evans (GBR) vs D. Lajovic (SRB)
[Q] T. Fabbiano (ITA) vs [13] H. Hurkacz (POL)
G. Pella (ARG) vs [WC] L. Pouille (FRA)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs A. de Minaur (AUS)
[Q] S. Caruso (ITA) vs [WC] L. Catarina (MON)
[Q] M. Cecchinato (ITA) vs [Q] D. Koepfer (GER)
COURT 9 start 11:00 am
M. Melo (BRA) / J. Rojer (NED) vs [5] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)
T. Paul (USA) vs [LL] P. Martinez (ESP)
J. Chardy (FRA) vs A. Bublik (KAZ)
COURT 11 start 11:00 am
[8] K. Krawietz (GER) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs [WC] P. Tsitsipas (GRE) / S. Tsitsipas (GRE)
Not Before 12:30 pm
A. Mannarino (FRA) / B. Paire (FRA) vs [6] W. Koolhof (NED) / L. Kubot (POL)