SLOVENIAN qualifier, Aljaz Bedene and American Taylor Fritz both advanced through to the Round of 32 of the Monte Carlo Masters today with come-from-behind victories. Both players were facing off against tough opponents in the opening round of the fantasy tennis tournament, and found the going tough, but were able to post three-set victories.

Bedene extended his stay in Monaco an extra couple of days with a massive victory over in-form German, Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 7-6 6-3, while Fritz came from a set down to win in similarly tight circumstances, 4-6 6-3 6-3 over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. The only other three set match on day one was Croatian Borna Coric‘s 6-2 2-6 6-3 triumph over Italian wildcard, Lorenzo Sonego.

From a seeded perspective, the four seeds in day one all advancing with 10th seed Fabio Fognini, 12th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, 13th seed Diego Schwartzman and 15th seed Andrey Rublev all advancing. Fognini accounted for Australian John Millman 6-4 6-0, Bautista Agut took out German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-4, Schwartzman stunned Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2 6-2, and Rublev fought off talented Brazilian qualifier, Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-1 7-5.

An interesting first up result was Norwegian Casper Ruud‘s 50-minute demolition job on Australian Alex de Minaur. Clearly not a strong clay courter, de Minaur was no match for the specialist clay courter, going down 6-0 6-1. Similarly, British wildcard Andy Murray worked his way into the second round with a 6-3 6-1 win over Guido Pella to set up a tantalising Round of 32 contest with Fognini.

In other results, the two winners from last week’s tournaments in Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (Houston Open winner) and Serbian Filip Krajinovic (Marrakech Open winner) saw the former advance through on the clay, winning 6-2 7-5. Meanwhile the bad news for Serbia continued with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz knocking out Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 7-5, as the final result saw another Brit in Kyle Edmund defeat Canadian Denis Shapovalov – who was just one rank off a seeding – 7-5 6-3 and win the prize of playing Rafael Nadal in the second round.

In tomorrow’s action, a couple of the must-watch matches include 16th seed Stan Wawrinka up against Australian Nick Kyrgios as young guns Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ugo Humbert lock horns. Also on court, 11th seed David Goffin tackles Milos Raonic in a tough first round match up, while Japan’s Kei Nishikori returns to the circuit post-injury up against Argentinian qualifier, Juan Ignacio Londero.

ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[10] Fabio Fognini (ITA) defeated John Millman (AUS) 6-4 6-0
[12] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) defeated [Q] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4 6-4
[13] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) defeated Marin Cilic (CRO) 6-2 6-2
[15] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated [Q] Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA) 6-1 7-5
[Q] Aljaz Bedene (SLO) defeated Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 4-6 7-6 6-3
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) defeated Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 6-2 7-5
Borna Coric (CRO) defeated [WC] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-2 2-6 6-3
Casper Ruud (NOR) defeated Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-0 6-1
Hubert Hurkacz (POL) defeated Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 7-6 7-5
[WC] Andy Murray (GBR) defeated Guido Pella (ARG) 6-3 6-1
Taylor Fritz (USA) defeated Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 4-6 6-3 6-3
Kyle Edmund (GBR) defeated Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 7-5 6-3