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11 hours ago
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Daniil Medvedev smashed his racket several times and placed the remnants in a courtside dustbin during his humbling 6-0, 6-0 loss to the Italian wildcard Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
It was the world No 10’s first tour-level defeat without winning a game and he capitulated in 49 minutes, failing to earn a game point on his own serve and committing 27 unforced errors. Berrettini will face João Fonseca in the last 16 after the Brazilian teenager beat Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
It was the first time Berrettini had won a tour-level match 6-0, 6-0 and his first win over a top-10 opponent since defeating Alexander Zverev in Monte Carlo last season. “It was one of the best performances of my life,” he said. “I think I missed three shots in the entire match and it is not easy against a tricky player like Daniil. The gameplan was perfect and my weapons were working.”
Medvedev’s outburst comes after renewed discussion around how players express their frustration during matches. The world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, backed the idea of “rage rooms” where players can vent their frustrations away from the cameras, in response to Coco Gauff’s racket-smashing at the Australian Open, when the American was unaware her actions were being broadcast.
Alexander Zverev staged a late comeback to edge out Chilean qualifier Cristian Garín 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. The world No 3 was in danger of a shock exit after losing the first set and then trailing 4-0 in the third. Garin also served for the match when 5-3 ahead in the deciding set, but Zverev broke and reeled off five consecutive games to win.
“My level was not there at all to be honest,” Zverev said after taking two hours and 50 minutes to get over the line. “But it was my first clay-court match in 11 months … I am happy to get the win. It was a tough match and he is someone playing well, especially here.”
Zverev will face unseeded Belgian Zizou Bergs, who downed 2023 champion Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-1. Fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti slumped to a 7-6 (8), 7-5 defeat to Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot, in just his second match since retiring from his Australian Open quarter-final in January with an upper leg injury.
Sixth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime advanced past Marin Cilic in straight sets, while 2024 finalist Casper Ruud got the better of tricky Frenchman Corentin Moutet. Miami finalist Jiri Lehecka came from a set down to beat Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, but two other seeds, Flavio Cobolli and Francisco Cerundolo, lost to Alexander Blockx and Tomas Machac respectively.
