Italy’s Matteo Berrettini upset No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the third round at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in Monaco on Tuesday.
It was the biggest win of his career in terms of victory over a ranked opponent. Zverev, of Germany, is ranked No. 2 in the world.
The win was Berrettini’s 17th in the past 18 matches on clay courts. He won three tournaments on clay last season after being plagued by injuries the previous year.
“I grew up on clay, playing on it until 19,” Berrettini said. “On tour, we don’t play on it as much but at the same time I have missed the biggest tournament on clay for the past three years and that was tough and now I want to enjoy it. I feel really comfortable on clay.”
Berrettini said he knew that he needed to up his game to defeat Zverev.
“The game plan was the same but I changed my attitude and the way I was believing in my strokes,” Berrettini said. “I wasn’t hitting my forehand and serve like I had in previous days and I had to adapt and adjust to the conditions and (Zverev) was playing unbelievable, so it was not easy. Then I told myself to be more aggressive and if I am going to lose this match, I am going to do the right things and luckily it worked.”
Tied at five games and at 40/40 in third set, Berrettini won a 48-shot rally, then broke Zverev’s serve on the next point.
Up 6-5 and serving for the match, Berrettini closed out the set on his first match point after two hours, 27 minutes.
The match continued the disappointment on clay for Zverev, who made quarterfinal exits in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro earlier this year.
Also advancing to the third round were No. 5 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Marcos Giron, and No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who eliminated Australia’s Jordan Thompson 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Several first-round matches also took place Tuesday.
Nuno Borges of Portugal advanced when No. 10 seed Holger Rune retired in the second set due to illness, and No. 12 seed Arthur Fils of France came from behind to knock out Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2.
Frances Tiafoe, the No. 14 seed, defeated Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 (5) and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No. 15, ousted Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-3, 6-4 to move to the second round.
Other first-round winners were Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, Pedro Martinez and Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, Alexei Popyrin of Australia, Czech Tomas Machac and Italian Flavio Cobolli, who won last week in Bucharest.
–Field Level Media
