Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Sports Network) - British star Andy Murray
and birthday boy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were a pair of second-round winners
Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Masters, the third ATP World Tour Masters 1000
event of the year.
The third-seeded Murray mauled Serb Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3 in 67 minutes,
while the fourth-seeded French favorite Tsonga, who turned 27 Tuesday,
trounced German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4 on the red clay at the famed
Monte Carlo Country Club. This week's top-eight seeds enjoyed opening-round
byes.
Thirteenth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco also moved into the third round
with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Croat Ivan Dodig. Verdasco was the 2010
Monte Carlo runner-up to fellow Spanish lefthander Rafael Nadal, who is this
week's second seed behind reigning Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon
champion Novak Djokovic.
Verdasco should have his hands full with Tsonga in the round of 16 on
Thursday.
The great Nadal won an Open Era-record seventh consecutive title here
last year and is a staggering 39-1 lifetime in Monte Carlo. He topped David
Ferrer in last year's all-Spanish finale.
Nadal and fellow former No. 1 Roger Federer are the all-time leaders with 19
Masters titles apiece.
A first-round upset came Tuesday when Kazakhstanian qualifier Mikhail
Kukushkin fought back to beat 14th-seeded German Florian Mayer 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
France's Michael Llodra exited the draw by succumbing to Italian Fabio Fognini
7-5, 6-3 on Day 3.
Additional opening-round wins came for Italians Andreas Seppi, Filippo
Volandri and wild card Potito Starace, Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci, and
Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil, who drilled former top-10 Russian Mikhail
Youzhny 6-1, 6-3. Bellucci handled South African slugger Kevin Anderson 6-4,
6-4. Seppi is rewarded with a second-round match against the world No. 1 and
2009 Monte Carlo runner-up Djokovic, while Bellucci will face the 2011 Monte
Carlo runner-up Ferrer on Wednesday.
The 2012 winner of this $3.2 million event will collect $603,000.
The Sports Network