Struff upsets Shapovalov in Monte Carlo opener

MONTE CARLO: Canadian Denis Shapovalov endured a birthday to forget as he suffered a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 defeat to unseeded German Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening round of Monte Carlo Masters on Monday.

Shapovalov, who turned 20, was coming off a spectacular run to the Miami Open semi-finals but struggled to rediscover his service rhythm as he finished with 10 double faults in his first clay court match of the season.

Struff, who won 72 per cent of first-serve points, completed the turnaround in just under two hours. He next faces Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who lost in the semi-finals to Rafael Nadal last year.

Nadal, the defending champion, starts his bid for a record-extending 12th title on Wednesday against fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who won 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 against John Millman on Monday.

German Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-3 to line up against top seed Novak Djokovic; Belgian 16th seed David Goffin made short work of Argentine Guido Andreozzi 6-1, 6-4.

Italy’s Fabio Fognini thrilled fans from across the nearby border with his 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 comeback defeat unseeded Russian Andrey Rublev.

Russian 10th seed Daniil Medvedev advanced easily over Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-1, but Hungarian Marton Fucsovics dumped out Nikolaz Basilashvili, the 12th seed, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

Britain’s Kyle Edmund was dumped out after leading a set and 3-0 as Argentine Diego Schwartzman rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory.

After establishing his lead, Edmund proceeded to lose nine games on the trot to trail 3-0 in the final set on his way out of the tournament.

Marco Cecchinato, a French Open semi-finalist last year, was leading 4-0 when Damir Dzumhur pulled out with an abdominal injury.

Other unseeded first-round winners included Radu Albot; Martin Klizan; Mikhail Kukushkin; Lorenzo Sonego; Jaume Munar and Dusan Lajovic.