Monte Carlo Masters: Rune, Fritz, Medvedev advance to pre-quarters stage

Monte Carlo [Monaco], April 13 : Denmark's Holger Rune picked up a comprehensive win over Dominic Thiem in his round of 32 match at the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

He clinched a 6-2, 6-4 over the Austrian that helped him advance to the pre-quarters. This is his third appearance in Monaco and his first-ever qualification to the pre-quarters of this tournament. In previous two outings, he was beaten by Casper Ruud in the tournament. He lost in the opening round back in 2021 on debut and crashed out of the competition in the second round last season.

The 19-year-old, who is aiming to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal since winning Paris Masters back in November last year, will face Matteo Berrettini on Thursday.

"It is my first match back on clay so there were a few adjustments to make. But I am all in all happy with how I handled the situation on the court. Dominic already played a couple of matches [on clay]. He is a dangerous player. He can hit winners from anywhere in the court so I had to be sharp, move well and play well," said Rune as quoted by ATP.

In the other matches on Wednesday, American Taylor Fritz and Dil Medvedev of Russia also advanced to the pre-quarters stage.

Fritz clinched his 50th ATP Masters 1000 win on Wednesday by overcoming former champion Stan Wawrinka by 7-6(10), 6-2 to reach round three.

Fritz managed to save five set points in the opening set and dominated his opponent in a one-sided second set to seal the match in an hour and 39 minutes.

The eighth seed will be aiming to put on a great show against Jiri Lehecka in the next round.

On the other hand, the third-seed Medvedev defeated a dangerous free-hitter Italian Lorenzo Sonego by 6-3, 6-2.

In his first clay-court encounter of the year, Medvedev was focused right from the start. He took an early 3-0 lead thanks to some lovely first touches at the net, and he remained relentlessly aggressive from the baseline the entire time to secure an 89-minute triumph on Court Rainier III.

"Every match is a struggle [on clay], but I have had some good matches on clay. I managed to play good against a very strong player on clay. Lorenzo is very strong. Here in Monte-Carlo there are a lot of Italians in the crowd, but a lot of French also, so it was fun to play, and I am happy to beat such a tough opponent," said Medvedev.