Defending champion, Fabio Fognini of Italy, is through to the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament in Monaco.
The 15th seed, who won the 2019 tournament before sport came to a standstill in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, beat Jordan Thompson of Australia in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
Sixth-seeded Russian, Andrey Rublev, also advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Salvatore Caruso of Italy, and is joined in the last 16 by 14th seed, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
Dimitrov disposed of Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6, 6-4.
SA’s Klaasen in action
Meanwhile, South African doubles star, Raven Klaasen will be in second-round action at the Monte Carlos Masters tournament later on Wednesday.
Klaasen and his partner, Ben McLachlan of Japan, will face fifth seeds, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
In the singles, Chilean 16th seed, Christian Garin overcame a potentially tough first-round hurdle.
Garin beat next generation star, Felix Auger-Alliasime of Canada, in straight sets.
Auger-Alliasime started like a house on fire. He broke the Garin serve early on and quickly enjoyed a 5-2 lead.
But ever the fighter, Garin broke back. He also saved two set points and, went on to finally clinch it in the tie-break after 90 minutes of play.
In stark contrast, the second set was one-way traffic. Garin bagged it 6-1 to move into the second round, where he will meet Australia’s John Millman.
Another clay expert, 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, also worked hard for his first-round victory. Carreno Busta required just over two hours to beat Italy’s Stefano Travaglia – 7-5, 7-6 – in a nail-biting encounter.
Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov, booked a second round meeting with Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy.
Dimitrov won all three of the breakpoints that he created and secured a 6-3, 6-4 win.
In the only surprise of the day, 8th seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini, was ousted by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The Spaniard, who beat Alex de Minaur in the first round, impressed with a 7-5, 6-3 win in 90 minutes.
