Monte Carlo Masters: Britain's Dan Evans held up by rain; Aslan Karatsev continues fine form
Dan Evans wins opening set against Dusan Lajovic before rain forces players off the court for the day at the Monte Carlo Masters; Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev continues excellent start to the year
Tuesday 13 April 2021 08:04, UK
British No 1 Dan Evans was held up by the weather as rain forced his Monte Carlo Masters meeting with Dusan Lajovic into a second day.
Evans, with an overall 4-12 record on clay, appeared to have his work cut out with Lajovic having reached the Monte-Carlo final in 2019 - the last edition of the tournament.
The 30-year-old struggled to win his opening two service games against the Serb, yet he still took the first set 6-3 before rain forced a premature end to proceedings.
Aslan Karatsev powered past Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-4 despite having his early momentum halted by a rain delay which lasted more than four hours.
"It was a really tough match [for] my first match of the season on clay [with] tough weather conditions," Karatsev was quoted as saying on the official ATP Tour website.
"I started pretty well, I broke him and then the court was getting heavy, the ball was heavy."
The Russian, who came through qualifying to reach the Australian Open semi-finals earlier this year, will next face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for the first time in the second round.
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina upset Alex De Minaur 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to level their ATP record at 1-1 and book a second-round encounter with eighth seed Matteo Berrettini.
John Millman claimed four service breaks to beat France's Ugo Humbert 6-3 6-3.
The 31-year-old will meet the winner of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cristian Garin, which was suspended on Monday evening with the former leading 4-2 in the opening set.
Number 11 seed David Goffin overcame Marin Cilic 6-4 3-6 6-0 and Jordan Thompson beat Benoit Paire 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5).
American Tommy Paul led Pedro Martinez 4-1 when the Spaniard retired hurt.
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Third seed Shelby Rogers cruised into the second round of the MUSC Health Women's Open in Charleston with a straight-sets victory over fellow American Catherine McNally.
South Carolina product Rogers, who was born in nearby Mount Pleasant, smashed six aces and saved four break points en route to a 6-0 6-1 win.
Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic dispatched Renata Zarazua 6-1 6-1 to set up an encounter with Dane Clara Tauson, who earlier defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-3 6-3.
Nao Hibino also progressed after fifth seed and fellow Japanese Misaki Doi was forced to retire with the score at 7-5 5-7 6-6.
Americans Lauren Davis and Madison Brengle went through to the round of sixteen with respective 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 and 6-0 3-6 6-2 victories over Coco Vandeweghe and Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
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