French 11th seed Lucas Pouille required just over 70 minutes to dismiss Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
The world No.17 overcame his lacklustre first service performance to break his opponent four times in the match. Pouille only managed to get 35% of his first serves in, but crucially won 15 out of 19 points when he did. Meanwhile Harrison, who produced a costly 26 unforced errors, has suffered his third consecutive first round loss on the tour.
“I think it was a good match today.” Said Pouille. “I think I was very solid in the entire match and that is why I won in two sets.”
Pouille reached his maiden ATP final on the clay in Bucharest last year. Since then he has surged up the world rankings, reaching quarter-finals at two grand slam tournaments. Looking ahead to this year’s clay swing of the tour, Pouille is hoping to shine on home territory at next month’s French Open. He is yet to progress beyond the second round in Roland Garros.
“I think I’m playing well on the clay. This is a very important time for me in the season as it means I’m going to play the French Open soon.” He said.
“I want to win as many matches as I can and then get a lot of confidence before the French Open.”
In the next round, the 23-year-old will play Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi, a player he has defeated before on the clay. The world No.37 carefully worked his way to a 6-2, 6-4, triumph over Spain’s Marcel Granollers.
Muller to face Murray
Gilles Muller will be the first player to face top seed Andy Murray in this year’s tournament. The player from Luxemburg hit 12 aces during his straightforward 6-2, 6-2, win over tour vetran Tommy Robredo.
Nearing his 34th 🎂 is Gilles Muller about to win his first match in Monte Carlo? With shots like this … #MCROLEXMASTERS pic.twitter.com/F4T6JbM5x1
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 18 April 2017
33-year-old Muller is bidding for his first ever win over the world No.1. Murray currently dominates their head-to-head 5-0, but hasn’t played him since 2015.
Other early winners include Robin Haase. The Dutch player, who will play Dominic Thiem in the next round, cruised to a 66-minute win over Damir Dzumhur. Meanwhile, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff downed Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4.
