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Tsitsipas tops Karatsev to reach Monte Carlo round of 16

Sports Desk, Apr 13 (EFE).- Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas got his clay-court season off to a strong start with a 6-3, 6-4 victory Tuesday over Aslan Karatsev at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Tsitsipas had a surprisingly easy day at the office against the 29th-ranked Russian, whose fairy-tale run from the qualifying to the Australian Open semifinals has made him the story of the ATP Tour thus far this season.

The Greek world No. 5 was particularly effective on return in that round of 32 contest, breaking Karatsev’s serve twice in the early games of both the first and second sets.

In the round of 16, the 2020 French Open semifinalist will take on the winner of a match between Chile’s Cristian Garin and Australia’s John Millman.

But one other top-10 player, 10th-ranked Italian Matteo Berrettini, was bounced out of the tournament in a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the round of 32.

In round of 64 action Tuesday, Bulgarian world No. 17 Grigor Dimitrov eased past Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4 and will next take on France’s Jeremy Chardy in the second round.

Italy’s Jannik Sinner, a highly regarded teenager who moved into the top 25 of the world rankings with a runner-up finish at the recently concluded Miami Open, defeated Spain’s Alberto Ramos-Viñolas 6-3, 6-4.

He will next take on Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a much-anticipated round of 32 match-up on Wednesday.

The Monte-Carlo Masters a key tune-up event for the French Open, tennis’ most prestigious clay-court tournament, which has been delayed by a week due to coronavirus concerns and is now scheduled to be played from May 30 to June 13. EFE

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