Medvedev, Musetti scrape through at Monte-Carlo Masters

Daniil Medvedev and Lorenzo Musetti navigated tricky opening encounters at the Monte-Carlo Masters in Monaco on Monday (local time), with both seeds pushed to three sets at the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament on clay for the 2025 tennis season.

Ninth seed Medvedev — priced at $19 to win the event by BetOnline — took on compatriot Karen Khachanov in his opening match.

The former world No.1 edged out the first set 7-5 but was forced to play a decider when Khachanov won the second 6-4. 

Digging deep on his least-favourite surface, Medvedev found a way to break his opponent in the final game of the third, bagging it 6-4 to prevail in two hours and 52 minutes.

He takes on Alexandre Muller in the second round and is a heavy favourite across tennis betting sites to win.

Musetti, meanwhile, came up against Yunchaokete Bu and found himself a set down when the Chinese qualifier raced out of the blocks to claim the first set 6-4.

The No.13 seed fought back well, however, winning the next two sets 7-5, 6-3 to book his place in the second round.

He will meet Jiri Lehecka next and is priced at $1.72 to win by leading sportsbooks.

Seeds Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime were not so fortunate on day two of the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Shelton took on the mercurial Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and while the 11th seed managed to edge out the opening set in a tiebreaker, he fell 6-2, 6-1 in the subsequent sets.

No.16 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime also faced an opening-set tiebreaker but was unable to prevail, losing 7-6(5), 6-3 to qualifier Daniel Altmaier.

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s schedule, top seed Alexander Zverev and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas are both in action.

Tsitsipas sits on the third line of outright betting at BetOnline, paying $9.50 to win his fourth Monte-Carlo title.

He takes on Jordan Thompson and is a $1.14 favourite on tennis betting apps.

Zverev faces an immediate challenge, however, with 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini waiting in the second round.

While the German is a $1.57 favourite to win, Berrettini won three titles on outdoor clay in 2024 and is paying $2.37 to pull off an upset.

Tournament favourites Carlos Alcaraz ($2.50) and Novak Djokovic ($6) are yet to begin their campaigns and will take to the court for the first time on Wednesday.

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