Alejandro Davidovich knew how to stay calm and weather adversity to beat Marcos Giron 7-5, 6-4 this Sunday at the start of the Masters 1,000 in Monte Carlo. The man from Malaga, quarterfinalist in 2021 (he retired against Tsitsipas), also obtained the ‘prize’ of facing world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the second roundwho due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has not played since he fell in the Dubai quarterfinals against the Czech Vesely, at the end of February.
Davidovich had to come from behind in both sets to beat the 28-year-old American and 58th in the world, who is on a losing streak of results (he has lost his last five games without winning a set). He had never met this rival who surprised him at the start with a break in the fourth game. Alex equalized in the seventh and then broke to make it 6-5 and serve.
He did not miss the opportunity to get the match back on track, but it could have been complicated by a fall at the start of the second round and a strange 3-0 against, because at 0-1 he had three break balls. Recovered from the scare, Davidovich attacked Giron and overwhelmed him with a hard 6-0 run that closed with a magnificent passing drive in the race, his 21st winning shot, 12th with the right. On Tuesday he will face Djokovic for the third time. In the previous two, both in 2021, the Serbian won 6-2, 6-1 in Rome (earth) and 6-3, 6-1 at the Tokyo Games (hard court).
Munar and Zapata, to the main draw
Sunday’s session started with good news for Spanish tennis. Jaume Munar and Bernabé Zapata qualified for the main draw of the Monegasque tournament, from which Frenchman Gael Monfils fell yesterday (“At this point in my career, I can’t take risks,” he explained. The Majorcan, 10th favourite, beat the German Oscar Otte (7th) in a disputed match that started out very expensive for him but ended up being resolved in three sets (6-0, 6-7 (8) and 6-2). The Valencian was able to defeat the Portuguese Joao Sousa (13th) in two sets (6-4 and 7-6 (8)). The previous one is still underway, because what the two representatives of the Navy still do not know who their next rivals will be. What is certain is that Spain has more players in this event than any other nation. He has eight: Alcaraz, Carreño, Bautista, Ramos, Davidovich, Martínez, Munar and Zapata. And he could have had another, Taberner, if the Valencian had not fallen in the first round of qualifying.
Results of the Masters 1,000 of Montecarlo.