Five of seven French players advanced, young Zverev qualified & Nadal won the doubles in Monte-Carlo

Five out of seven French players advanced to next round

There was action in all courts at the Monte-Carlo Country Club with five out of seven French players advancing to the next round. Gilles Monfils (Seeded 13) had a sluggish slow start on center court but soon recovered beating his homonym Gilles Muller from Luxemburg in 2 sets, in just over an hour. He was followed by 29-year-old Richard Gasquet (No.10 and seeded 9), who recovered from a back injury, won in 2 straight sets defeating Spaniard Nicolas Almagro who seemed to have a really bad day and was a shadow of what he used to be. In Gasquet’s bench we could see Yannick Noah, Davis Cup captain, and Cedric Piolin.

French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert (No.96), better known for his performance in doubles with Nicolas Mahut, crashed the hopes of Argentine Guido Pella also in 2 straight sets. Another French qualifier Stephane Robert had a different fate by being defeated by Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. Benoit Paire (No.16) won over Spaniard Inigo Cervantes. And young French Wild Card Lucas Pouille (No.81) claimed victory over French Nicolas Mahut in two straight sets and will face Richard Gasquet next.

Gael Monfils beat G. Muller on first round at MCRM @CelinaLafuenteDeLavotha

French Richard Gasquet No.10 ATP ranking advanced to next round @CelinaLafuenteDeLavotha

Yannick Noah and Cedric Piolin in Gasquet’s bench @CelinaLafuenteDeLavotha

Young Zverev rushes to second tour

Young revelation 18-year-old German Alexander Zverev (ATP 54), who is 2 centimetres shy of 2 meters tall, qualified easily for the second tour beating another young hope Russian Andrey Rublev in two straight sets 61 63. The German will face Spaniard David Ferrer. Canadian Milos Raonic (10) defeated young WC Italian Marco Cecchinato.

Alexander Sverev after signing his name on the TV Camera @CelinaLafuenteDeLavotha

German Alexander Zverev advanced to second round in Monte-Carlo @CelinaLafuenteDeLavotha

Milos Raonic defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato passing to next round @CelinaLafuenteDeLavotha

There was a large crowd in Court des Princes to watch the doubles Spanish pair Rafael Nadal / Fernando Verdasco who defeated Kholschreiber (GER) / Viktor Troicki (SRB). When top ranked players play doubles it really helps to attract viewers. Also in the same court Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov defeated Serb Filip Krajinovic. And at the end of the day, 22-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem (No.14) won in three sets over German Jean-Lennard Struff.