Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Albert Montanes of Spain during their second round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, yesterday.
AFP/Monaco
Novak Djokovic stormed into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters as the defending champion won his 11th straight match of the season 6-1, 6-0 over Albert Montanes yesterday.
The second seed is bidding for a trophy at his fifth straight Masters 1000 after ending last season as winner at Shanghai and Paris before sweeping Indian Wells and Miami last month.
He won the last 11 games in a row, finishing in 45 minutes and improving to 17-2 on the season.
The Serb ranked second in the world behind top seed and eight-time Monte Carlo champion Rafael Nadal ran his record over Spain’s Montanes to a comfortable 6-0.
“For my first clay match since Roland Garros last June it was great,” said the winner. “I could not find any flaws in my game.
“My opponent was making a lot of unforced errors, I tried not to give him any rhythm. I’ve had some short matches before, it’s nice to get your work done so quickly.
“But then again, longer rallies would have given more of a test so early in the clay season.”
Djokovic revealed that he has been carrying a slight wrist problem for a week but said he would not speak of it, saying only that it would soon be cleared up.
Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer, the 2011 finalist, started with a win over Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0.
Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga joined Djokovic and Ferrer in the third round with a hard-fought 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Tsonga needed just under two hours to go through in front of an enthusiastic crowd, although he took a medical timeout on the way to finally securing victory on his third match point.
“I just had a bad period. I felt my legs were very heavy. I didn’t feel well, so I called the doctor to explain what was happening. He gave me homeopathic treatment.”
It was a largely positive day for the French on the Cote d’Azur.
Michael Llodra upset slumping Polish 16th seed Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-2.
Julian Benneteau advanced over Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 but Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili handed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Gilles Simon.
Bulgarian 12th seed Grigor Dimitrov reached the second round over Marcelo Granollers 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 while Italian Andreas Seppi defeated 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Nadal, Roger Federer and Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka were to beginning in the second round today.
French Open prize money on the rise
French Open officials yesterday upped the ante for players at this year’s upcoming clay-court grand slam, offering an increased prize package of 25mn euros (34.5mn dollars).
The decision follows that of the four majors in 2013, who hiked their payouts by a large percentage to see off any talk of player boycotts over prize money dis-satisfaction. For 2014, Roland Garros is offering up an addition threemn euros.
Singles winners on both the men’s and women’s sides will each receive 1.65mn euros at the edition starting May 25.
Paris is also keeping up with its three other rivals.
In 2013, Wimbledon offered the equivalent of 34mn dollars, a rise of nearly 10mn dollars. The US Open paid out 33.6mnmn, while January’s Australian Open offered the equivalent of 33mn.
