MONTE CARLO, Principality of Monaco: Top seed Alexander Zverev crashed out in his opening match of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday falling to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini as defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and Britain’s Jack Draper both advanced.

World No. 2 Zverev has struggled for any kind of form since his defeat by Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final at the end of January, winning just six of 12 matches.

But with a first-round bye in the absence of world No. 1 Sinner, who is suspended for a doping violation until May 4, Zverev was among the favorites.

After a controlled start to the game, the German slumped to a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat to 34th-ranked Berrettini, at the end of a high-flying match, which had included an impressive 48-stroke rally won by the Italian.

“It’s been the worst period since my injury (the) last few months,” said Zverev who has suffered a string of early exits of late, including at Indian Wells.

“I played a great first set, and once I got broken in the second set I play ten levels down. My ball is much slower. I stop hitting the ball.

“The same story the last few months. Nothing changes. So it’s me who lost the match, once again.

“I thought my level was terrible, but that’s just my opinion.”

Defending champion and three-time Monte Carlo winner Tsitsipas advanced past 38th-ranked Australian Jordan Thompson. After a lacklustre US tour, the Dubai winner won through 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in his second round tie.

Indian Wells champion Draper, seeded fifth, eased past 45th-ranked American Marcos Giron 6-1, 6-1.

Novak Djokovic — the winner in 2013 and 2015 — and Carlos Alcaraz start their campaigns on Wednesday.

Zverev won the first set against former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini but a break of serve in the sixth game of the second set allowed the Italian to level the match.

Berrettini broke at 3-all in the final set before blowing a chance to close out victory on his own serve, but he broke again for a 6-5 lead after an astonishing 48-shot rally.

The 34th-ranked Berrettini made no mistake with his second opportunity though, advancing to a last-16 meeting with Lorenzo Musetti or Jiri Lehecka.

“The game plan was the same but I changed my attitude and the way I was believing in my strokes,” Berrettini said.

“I told myself to be more aggressive and if I am going to lose this match, I am going to do the right things and luckily it worked.”

Berrettini has won 17 of his past 18 matches on clay. Last season, he captured clay-court titles in Marrakech, Gstaad and Kitzbuehel. However, he hasn’t played at the French Open since 2021 due to injuries.

“I have missed the biggest tournament on clay for the past three years and that was tough and now I want to enjoy it. I feel really comfortable on clay,” said the former world number six.

For Zverev, last year’s Roland Garros runner-up, it was another disappointing outcome on clay after quarter-final exits in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. His next tournament will be on home soil in Munich.

Meanwhile Tsitsipas let a 5-2 lead slip in the second set, before getting past Thompson to set up a third round meeting with either Portugal’s Nuno Borges or Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, you don’t know what your opponent is capable of,” said Tsitsipas.

“He showed a good first set, he seemed to be playing quite reserved and wasn’t giving me much to work with. I was just trying to find something to reignite that consistency within my game.”

Dane Holger Rune, the 10th seed, retired due to illness against Portugal’s Nuno Borges.

Rune, the Monte Carlo runner-up in 2023, called for the doctor after losing the opening set before shaking hands with his opponent while trailing 6-2, 3-0.

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, a two-time Monte Carlo semifinalist, defeated Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 6-4, on his seventh match point.

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida: Czech teenager Jakub Mensik upset Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) to win the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, denying the Serb his 100th career title.

The 19-year-old, ranked 54th in the world, claimed his first title on the ATP Tour with an outstanding display of powerful tennis.

The final was delayed by almost six hours due to heavy rain and when the players emerged it was clear that Djokovic had an eye infection. He used eye-drops during a changeover in the first set.

Mensik started strongly, breaking Djokovic’s first serve game to go 2-0 up and the tall, big-serving Czech was dominating until, at 4-2 Djokovic broke back when Mensik found the net.

The set remained on serve from then on, but in the tie-break Mensik’s powerful serve, with two aces, put him in charge from the outset. He opened up a 5-0 lead and although 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic fought back the youngster sealed the set with an overhead volley.

It was the first set that Djokovic had lost in the entire tournament. Twice he lost his footing and ended up on his back, and he changed his footwear between sets.

Mensik had beaten Djokovic by the exact same margin in the first set of their only other meeting in Shanghai before losing in three sets.

This time, however, the momentum appeared to be with him.

The second set was a nip and tuck affair, though, with neither player able to break. Once again Mensik’s power proved decisive in the tie-break and when Djokovic went long on a return to hand him victory he fell to his back in celebration.

“To be honest I don’t know what to say. It feels incredible, obviously,” Mensik said in his on-court interview.

“It was probably the biggest day of my life and I did super, which I’m really glad (about), to show the performance and keep the nerves outside of the court before the match.

“I feel just super happy and I think that the feelings will come later,” he said.

Mensik has made no secret of the fact that he grew up with Djokovic as his idol and after receiving the trophy he said that he started his career in the hope of emulating the Serb.

“There is no harder task for a tennis player than to beat you in the final of a tournament,” he said.

“I am pretty sure that this was just the first of many,” Mensik added, before revealing that he had been close to pulling out of the tournament before his first match due to a knee injury before last minute physiotherapy produced the desired results.

After the match Djokovic admitted he had not felt at his best.

“It’s unfortunate for me. Two tiebreaks, just very weird match, weird day with rain delay and all the things that (were) happening. Honestly, yeah, I didn’t feel my greatest on the court, but it is what it is. Nothing to take away from his victory,” he said.

Asked specifically about his eye problem, the Serb said: “I really prefer not to talk about — there are quite a few things, but I prefer not to... just congratulate him. That’s it. I don’t want to sound like I’m giving excuses here for my loss.”

Djokovic said he had spotted Mensik’s talent a few years ago and invited him to train at his club.

“I saw him play when he was 15 or 16 and invited him, we had some training blocks together. He was training at my club in Belgrade, and, you know, to see his development and evolution is really great, amazing,” he said.

“Never really happy to lose, but he’s one of the very few players that I would be happier to lose to, to be honest.”

The match between the 37-year-old Djokovic and Mensik was the biggest age gap difference in a Masters 1000 final and the biggest age gap of any tour-level final since 1976.