Monte Carlo Masters: Aljaz Bedene to play Rafael Nadal

Aljaz Bedene recorded a straight-sets victory over Czech Lukas Rosol in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters to set up a meeting with eight-time champion Rafael Nadal.

The British No 2 sent down eight aces to triumph 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour and will play play fifth seed Nadal, who received a bye in the first round.

Slovenian-born Bedene, who recently lost his bid to play Davis Cup tennis for Britain, required five match points to finally see off an opponent one place below him in the world rankings in 61st.

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Bedene had twice beaten Rosol on clay in Futures matches, but the Czech won their only previous Tour meeting on a hard court in Beijing in 2015.

Now Bedene appears ready to take up his challenge against the mighty Nadal. "I'm playing well, at the moment I'm enjoying playing tennis. It's going to be against Rafa, who I respect. He's one of the best clay-courters.

"It's going to be fun, definitely if I bring my best tennis. I'm not the favourite, but I stand a chance. It's never a good time to play someone like him. But if I can pick any, this is the time."

Andy Murray also enters the tournament at the second-round stage and will play Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert after he beat Guido Pella of Argentina 6-3 6-4.

Two-time semi-finalist Murray was in men's doubles action with Davis Cup team-mate Dominic Inglot on Monday as they reached the second round with a straight sets win over Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas and Spain's Marcel Granollers.

The British pair won 6-3 6-4 with a controlled display which saw them dominate the first set before having to battle hard for victory in the second.

They next face Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia before a potential date against Spanish wildcard pairing Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in the third round.

In other results, Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez made it past Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 7-5 6-1 to next face third seed Roger Federer, who is set to play his first match in more than two months after a knee procedure.

Two French seeds gave the home public what they wanted in the first round, with number nine Richard Gasquet defeating Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-0 and 13th-seeded Gael Monfils recovering form 2-5 down in the opening set to defeat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-5 6-0.

Spanish 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut advanced past compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

German teenager Alexander Zverev continued to impress after holding a match point against Nadal last month at Indian Wells, with the 18-year-old winning his debut match in the principality over longtime junior rival Andrey Rublev 6-1 6-3.

That quick victory in one hour lines up the 54th-ranked Zverev against former Monte Carlo finalist David Ferrer in the second round.

Austrian 12th seed Dominic Thiem, Canadian tenth seed Milos Raonic and Bulgarian hot shot Grigor Dimitrov all won through.

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