MONACO — Second-ranked Alexander Zverev lost 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to fellow big-hitter Matteo Berrettini in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
The unseeded Berrettini secured victory when serving for the match for the second time and on his first match point against the top-seeded German.
Zverev, the French Open runner-up last year, got the crowd going at the first big clay-court tournament of the year when he won a point with a sliced backhand volley at the net in the fifth game.
But the 28-year-old Berrettini, a Wimbledon runner-up in 2021, broke in the seventh game of the deciding set and then served for the match at 5-4, only for Zverev to break back.
Another break of serve gave Berrettini a second chance to serve out the match and this time the Italian took it. He will next face either Jiri Lehecka or 13th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti.
In second-round matches later Tuesday, three-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece began his title defense against Australian Jordan Thompson, and U.S. Open semifinalist Jack Draper faced Marcos Giron.
In remaining first-round matches Tuesday, Holger Rune of Denmark was trailing 6-2, 3-0 against Nuno Borges when he retired after feeling unwell.
Rune took a medical timeout at the end of the first set.
“I clearly saw that he wasn’t feeling great,” Borges said.
No. 15-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov beat Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 6-4 on his seventh match point and next meets wild card entry Valentin Vacherot of Monaco.
There were also first-round wins for Alexei Popyrin, veteran Roberto Bautista Agut and Tomas Machac.
On Wednesday, two-time champion Novak Djokovic faces Alejandro Tabilo, who handed the 24-time Grand Slam champion a surprising loss at the Italian Open last year.
Djokovic is seeking the 100th title of his career and recently lost the Miami Open final to Jakub Mensik.
