Australian tennis player Alex de Minaur has advanced to the round of 16 at the Monte-Carlo Masters following his victory over Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
In contrast, fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin faced a loss against ninth seed Casper Ruud, going down in straight sets.
De Minaur is set to meet either the 10th seed Flavio Cobolli or Belgian qualifier Alexander Blockx in his next match.
In a rematch of their previous encounter in Indian Wells where he suffered a defeat, de Minaur showcased his resilience in Monte Carlo, securing a hard-fought three-set win over Norrie. After losing the earlier match 6-4, 6-4, de Minaur faced challenges at the start of the match but ultimately triumphed with scores of 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-2.
Norrie initially took a 4-2 lead in the first set, but de Minaur managed to rally back to claim the tiebreak. Despite Norrie winning five consecutive games to force a decisive set, de Minaur, the fifth seed, broke Norrie’s serve twice at the beginning of the final set, allowing him to move forward in the tournament.
Earlier in the day, Alexei Popyrin was defeated by Casper Ruud with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
Additionally, after receiving first-round byes, both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz kicked off their clay-court seasons with impressive wins, continuing their competition for the world number one ranking. Sinner dispatched French player Ugo Humbert in a swift 6-3, 6-0 match that lasted just 64 minutes, while defending champion Alcaraz triumphed over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
Alcaraz acknowledged the possibility of losing his top ranking to Sinner, stating, “To be honest, I’m going to lose number one in the world at some point. I don’t know if it is going to be at this tournament or in the next one. I’m defending a bunch of points that are going to be really difficult to defend. Even if I defend them, Jannik is going to add some points at these tournaments where he doesn’t have to defend any points. I will try to play my best and let’s see what happens, but for me, the number one spot is not in my mind right now. I’m just trying to feel the best way on clay courts and let’s see how the clay swing goes.”
Other players who secured victories included Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, eighth seed Alexander Bublik, Marin Cilic, and Tomas Etcheverry.
