Monday April 17

Tomas Berdych, Alexander Zverev and Pablo Cuevas each advanced to the second round of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters on Monday after securing straight-sets victories against their respective first-round foes.

Conserving energy in the earlier stages of competitions such as these can often be key to a player’s chances of victory, and “Sascha” Zverev ensured he did just that with an efficient straight-sets win over Seppi. The younger Zverev brother dominated Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 not long after Cuevas made light work of Viktor Troicki en route to a 6-3, 6-0 triumph, and Berdych edged Andrey Kuznetsov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Zverev, the No. 14 seed, saved one break point and broke three times in the 27-minute opening set under sun-kissed skies, executing a number of fine drop shot winners from the baseline. Wild card Seppi held his nerve in a 16-point service hold for 1-1 in the second set of their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund eliminated Davis Cup team-mate Dan Evans from the competition following a 7-5, 6-1 win over his compatriot.

Seeded Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta also advanced to the second round following wins against Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili and Fabio Fognini, respectively.

Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki renewed their doubles partnership on Monday with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against Gilles Muller and Gilles Simon at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The Serbians won almost 70 per cent of their service points in the 76-minute win. They’ll next meet top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

Results of the previous day of the tournament:

Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Results April 16