Shapovalov suffers first-round loss to Struff at ATP Monte-Carlo Masters

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-16 06:16:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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PARIS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- No. 15 seed Denis Shapovalov, who turned 20 on Monday, lost to Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round of the ATP Monte-Carlo Masters.

The Canadian talent let slide his 7-5 opening set victory before faltering in the following two sets 6-3, 6-1.

Struff, who won 72 percent of first-serve points, will next face last year's semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov.

Shapovalov was joined by Nikoloz Basilashvili and Kyle Edmund as losing seeded players. No. 12 seed Basilashvili lost to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, and 17th-seeded Edmund was eliminated by Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The 10th seed Daniil Medvedev stormed past Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-1, tying Swiss superstar Roger Federer for the most tour-level wins this season after bagging his 18th win.

"It is not easy to start the first match on clay," admitted Medvedev. "In this moment I am happy with my performance but looking forward to the next matches because it is only the start."

Last year's Roland Garros semifinalist Marco Cecchinato, the No. 11 seed in Monte-Carlo, advanced as his opponent Damir Dzumhur had to retire to injury when the Italian led 4-0 in the first set.

Despite losing the opening set 6-4 and trailing 1-4 in the second against Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev, No. 13 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy stormed back for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory in crowds' strong support.

The 2017 semifinalist David Goffin secured his 10th victory at the tournament after overcoming Argentina's Guido Andreozzi 6-1, 6-4 in 85 minutes.

The 11-time champion Rafael Nadal has confirmed his second round opponent, as fellow Spanish Roberto Bautista Agut recovered to register a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over John Millman.

The Monte-Carlo Masters, one of ATP 1000 clay-court tournaments, is underway until Sunday.

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