DRAWN with first round encounters, all four seeds survived day two of the 2020 ATP Monte Carlo Masters fantasy tennis tournament. Those moving through to the Round of 32 were ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, 11th seed David Goffin, 14th seed Karen Khachanov and 16th seed Stan Wawrinka. All four knew that they had tough encounters after the Monte Carlo draw, but dealt with it well.

Berrettini knocked off Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino in a three set victory, 6-4 6-7 6-0 to run away with the contest in the third, while Goffin came from behind to knock out Canadian, Milos Raonic 2-6 6-0 6-4. Khachanov had it slightly easier against Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov in a 6-4 6-4 win, while Wawrinka did enough to defeat Australian, Nick Kyrgios 7-5 6-3.

All bar one of the matches between unseeded players were surprisingly straight sets, with Japan’s Kei Nishikori returning to the circuit for his first match since last year. Nishikori picked up where he left off with a 6-0 6-4 trouncing of Argentinian clay courter, Juan Ignacio Londero in an hour and 24 minutes. Also through to the next round was Frenchman Benoit Paire who bounced back from a first-up defeat in Marrakech to knock out Italian wildcard, Marco Cecchinato 6-0 6-2 in less than an hour.

It was one of the few celebrations of the day for the French with six players in action and four of them bowing out. In the all-French battle, wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated qualifier Jeremy Chardy, 6-4 6-3. Meanwhile Chile’s Cristian Garin obliterated another French qualifier in Lucas Pouille, 6-1 6-2, as Ugo Humbert suffered a similar fate against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-2 6-0.

In the remaining results, American Reilly Opelka defeated Great Britain’s Dan Evans 6-3 6-2, and Spanish duo Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Carreno Busta both moved through to the Round of 16. Ramos-Vinolas won the only unseeded three-set match with a come-from-behind 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over John Isner, while Carreno Busta down Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

In tomorrow’s action, clay court star Rafael Nadal opens his account against Kyle Edmund, while at the other end of the half, Dominic Thiem meets Slovenian qualifier, Aljaz Bedene. In a couple of matches to watch, the one between 10th seed Fabio Fognini and former world number one Andy Murray is not to be missed, as is sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas taking on clay court specialist, Casper Ruud.

ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[9] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) defeated Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-4 6-7 6-0
[11] David Goffin (BEL) defeated Milos Raonic (CAN) 2-6 6-0 6-4
[14] Karen Khachanov (RUS) defeated Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 6-4 6-4
[16] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) defeated Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 7-5 6-3
Benoit Paire (FRA) defeated [WC] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6-0 6-2
Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated Daniel Evans (GBR) 6-3 6-2
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) defeated John Isner (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-4
Cristian Garin (CHI) defeated [Q] Lucas Pouille (FRA) 6-1 6-2
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) defeated Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-1 6-3
Kei Nishikori (JPN) defeated [Q] Juan Ignacio Londero (ARG) 6-0 6-4
[WC] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) defeated [Q] Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-4 6-3
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-2 6-0