PARIS – Daniil Medvedev navigated his way into the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters, eventually seeing off former world No 8 Karen Khachanov 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Former US Open winner Medvedev fought through in just shy of three hours against Khachanov, after having been a set and a break up on his fellow Russian, AFP reported.
After an early exit from the Miami Open last month caused the 29-year-old to exit the top 10, the 29-year-old got back to winning ways on clay as he chases his first title since claiming the Rome Open two years ago.
Elsewhere, 11th seed Ben Shelton was stunned by 42nd-ranked Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and there will be no showdown between Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka after the Swiss was defeated by Alejandro Tabilo.
Shelton went down 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-1 to his Spanish opponent, who reached the 2022 final at Monte Carlo.
Wild card Wawrinka also played out an epic that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours before succumbing 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 to Chile’s Tabilo.
France’s Gael Monfils beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and Matteo Berrettini set up a second-round meeting with top seed Alexander Zverev after winning in straight sets against Mariano Navone.
Felix Auger-Aliassime went down to German qualifier Daniel Altmaier 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, but fellow top 20 player Lorenzo Musetti avoided a similar fate by coming back from a set down to defeat qualifier Bu Yunchaokete of China.
Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic beat American Sebastian Korda and Marcos Giron overcame fellow North American Denis Shapovalov, both in straight sets.
Jenson Brooksby captured his maiden ATP title at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship with a stunning win over 2023 champion Frances Tiafoe to cap off a superb tournament, which he began as a wild card in the qualifying rounds.
Victory was all the sweeter for the 24-year-old American who had lost a big chunk of his career due to a ban for missing drug tests and two wrist surgeries in 2023.
“It means the world,” Brooksby said after his 6-4 6-2 win over second seed Tiafoe according to Reuters.
“It was one of my biggest goals ever since I have been a professional tennis player. It means a lot to have my first one. It’s probably the best week of my life.”
Having come into the tournament at number 507 following the major disruption of his career, Brooksby also became the third-lowest-ranked champion in the tour’s history since 1990.
He was hit with an 18-month ban in October 2023 for three “whereabouts failures” in a 12-month span but had the suspension reduced to 13 months on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport after disputing the second missed test.
Hampered by injuries during and after the ban, he finally made his return to tennis at the Australian Open earlier this year and lost to compatriot Taylor Fritz in the first round.
Brooksby persevered and saved multiple matchpoints in three of his matches to prevail in Houston.
“I’ve had a lot of different life adversity, whether it’s on the court or off the court,” Brooksby said.
“So, I think it makes these situations … like, I still get nervous about them and somewhat tense for sure, but it gives you a different perspective once you’ve had to face other difficult things in life.
“I’m just someone who hates to lose and loves to win in general – obviously tennis being most important, but even in other games, and that’s just how I’m wired as a person.
“I just really love winning, so that transfers over into when I’m in tough positions and maybe you should lose in those situations, that I’m able to at least find a way out of it.”
