Fourth-seeded Casper Ruud continued his strong play on clay courts by posting a 7-5, 7-6 (1) victory over Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters at Monaco.
Ruud saved four of eight break points while defeating van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands. He had 15 winners and 13 unforced errors.
Last week, Ruud won the clay court title at the Estoril Open in Portugal.
“It felt great last week in Estoril,” Ruud, a Norwegian, said. “It felt very comfortable. Today was at times a very good match, but at times a little rusty. There are a lot of positives to build on.”
In defeat, van de Zandschulp had 25 winners and 15 unforced errors.
Ruud next faces Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, who recorded a 6-3, 6-2 win over 14th-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia.
Third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego. Medvedev had 18 winners and seven unforced errors.
Medvedev won 90 percent of his first-serve points (27 of 30) but said he didn’t feel overly sharp.
“Every match is a struggle (on clay), but I have had some good matches on clay,” Medvedev said. “I managed to play good against a very strong player on clay. Lorenzo is very strong. Here in Monte Carlo there are a lot of Italians in the crowd, but a lot of French also, so it was fun to play, and I am happy to beat such a tough opponent.”
Medvedev will next face Germany’s Alexander Zverev after the No. 13 seed defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4. Zverev smashed 11 aces while Bautista Agut had two.
Sixth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark moved on by dispatching Austria’s Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-4. Rune smashed 40 winners against just seven unforced errors.
No. 7 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy won his match 6-0, 3-1 after Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman retired due to a left shoulder injury.
Eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz survived a lengthy first-set tiebreaker to record a 7-6 (10), 6-2 win over Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland. Fritz had an 8-2 edge in aces.
Ninth-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia eliminated Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 7-6 (2), 6-2, while No. 16 seed Lorenzo Musetti rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 thumping of fellow Italian Luca Nardi.
In other matches, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini defeated Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-4; Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic beat Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (4), 6-4, and Chile’s Nicolas Jarry outlasted Aussie Alexei Popyrin 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
–Field Level Media