Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas has won his opening match in Monte Carlo, defeating Australian Jordan Thompson 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Tsitsipas is now 21-3 on the red clay of Monaco and has won three of the last four events.
Thompson did give the Greek a fright, taking the first set of the match, during which he dropped only four points on serve.
But Tsitsipas has been in the world’s top 15 for six years because he can solve problems, and he resolved this one, stepping inside the baseline to return.
The 26-year-old produced an instinctive response, winning seven of the final nine games of the clash.
“I tried to work around my serve, I felt like these were the moments that were tricky at the start of the match,” said Tsitsipas.
“Once that felt more consistent, I tried to focus on my return. Trying to return from far back didn’t seem to work much. I have had success returning far back on clay courts, but today it didn’t do the job, so I had to rely on closer returns, and it seemed to work well.”
With AAP
