“It’s a pleasure to be here…”: Wawrinka (90th in the world) did not hide his joy after his 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (35th) in the first round of the Masters 1000 from Monte Carlo. The 38-year-old Swiss had written one of the beautiful pages of his long career on the courts of the Principality in 2014 when he beat Roger Federer in the final. But since 2017, he had not passed the second round there and, after two seasons marred by injuries, he is trying to regain his best level.
“Today, any victory is important (…) Physically, I’m fine and my level is quite high. I’m able to beat a lot of players, I just have to play my game,” commented the three-time Grand Slam winner.
Berrettini’s return?
For his part, Berrettini won at the expense of the American Maxime Cressy (40th) dominated 6-4, 6-2, his first victory in Masters 1000 in more than a year. Wimbledon finalist in 2021, the 26-year-old Italian had never won a match on Monaco clay in his two previous appearances, in 2019 and 2021. Last year, he had wrist surgery in March and had missed the clay-court season.
“After the operation, I wasn’t sure I could come back at all. But today, the level was there,” he admitted. “When you get injured several times, you need a lot of energy to come back. At some point, I had none left. So I’m very happy to be here, I feel good, I did it again. full of energy and I’m ready to go,” he said. His last Masters 1000 victory was at Indian Wells 2022 where he beat Lloyd Harris in the third round before losing to Miomir Kecmanovic in the round of 16. Soon after, he had surgery.
Bonzi, it’s ok
Benjamin Bonzi (48th) defeated the Spaniard Bernabe Zapata (41st) 6-1, 7-5 and will find the double title holder Stefanos Tsitsipas (3rd) in the second round. “He’s won twice here, he’s playing very well here, but it’s still his first game on earth (of the season), they’re not necessarily the easiest, so we’ll see!”, commented Bonzi, optimistic .
The unexpected Russian Ivan Gakhov (198th), from qualifying, offered himself a prestigious tour: beating the American Mackenzie McDonald (52nd) 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-3 on Monday , he paved the way for a second round of the Masters 1000 on Tuesday against world number 1 and big favorite of the tournament Novak Djokovic.
It breaks
Gasquet (43rd) was overwhelmed by Thiem (106th) who won 6-1, 6-4. The showdown lasted two games: 23 minutes after the start of the game, Thiem converted his eighth break point to lead 2-0 and break Gasquet’s defense. “My game suits him quite well because I play quite topspin and when my ball quality is not very good, like tonight, and the balls are heavy, he is very advantaged with his power. He put me quite quickly under water”, analyzed Gasquet before summarizing: “I lost against stronger”.
Double finalist at Roland-Garros (2018, 2019) and winner of the US Open 2020, Thiem thus signs his third victory of the season. The Austrian is trying to return to his best level after ten months of absence (between 2021 and 2022) to treat a wrist injury. His last victory in a Masters 1000 tournament dates back to May 2021 when he beat Marton Fucsovics for his start in Rome. He then fell to Lorenzo Sonego. In Monte-Carlo, he had not played a second round since 2019.