[Source: Reuters Sports]

Alexander Zverev continued to rebuild his confidence on clay with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the Monte Carlo Masters second round and will next face in-form Daniil Medvedev.

German 13th seed Zverev, who suffered a serious ankle injury in the French Open semi-finals last year, won his second match in as many days in his first appearance on the red dirt since the Roland Garros drama.

Zverev broke for 3-2 in the first set and held serve to take it before breaking again in the fifth game of the second set.

Bautista Agut, however, broke the German’s serve to level at 3-3, only for Zverev to make the decisive break in the following game.

Russian Medvedev, winner of four hardcourt titles this year, continued his excellent start to the season with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego on a surface he has not enjoyed much success on in the past.

Casper Ruud, last year’s French Open runner-up, continued his preparations for the claycourt Grand Slam by battling past Botic van de Zandschulp 7-5 7-6(1), avenging a three-set defeat by the Dutchman in Miami last month.

Ruud next plays Jan-Lennard Struff who stunned 14th seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-2. Karen Khachanov also went through with a 7-6(2) 6-2 win over Ilya Ivashka while eighth seed Taylor Fritz overcame Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka 7-6(10) 6-2.

They were joined by Lorenzo Musetti, who blanked Luca Nardi 6-0 6-0 to set up a clash with world number one Novak Djokovic.

Miami runner-up Jannik Sinner advanced after his doubles partner Diego Schwartzman retired with a shoulder injury trailing 6-0 3-1.

Former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem’s attempts to revive his career following a wrist injury were dealt another blow in a 6-2 6-4 loss to ninth-ranked Holger Rune.

The loss extended Thiem’s bid for a first win over a top-10 ranked player since November, 2020.

Denmark’s Rune next faces Matteo Berrettini, who celebrated his 27th birthday with a hard-fought 5-7 7-6(1) 6-4 victory over Francisco Cerundolo.