Tennis: Monaco, forward Sinner, Fognini and Cecchinato

It is great Italy in Montecarlo.

In addition to Jannik Sinner, Fabio Fognini and Marco Cecchinato also took the pass for the second round at the 'Rolex Montecarlo Masters', the second Masters 1000 of the season, with a prize pool of 2,082,960 euros, which is being played on the red clay of the Montecarlo Country Club.

On Campo Ranieri III the reigning champion Fabio Fognini, n.18 Atp and here seeded n.15, began the defense of the title by overcoming by 6-2 7-5, in an hour and 25 minutes of play, the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, n.47 of the ranking.

There were no precedents between the 33 year old from Arma di Taggia and the 21 year old from Belgrade.

Now Fognini will find the Australian Jordan Thompson in the second round.

And on Field 9, Marco Cecchinato, n.92 Atp also won, who got rid of the German Domink Koepfer, n.56 of the ranking, in a match between 6-4 6-3, in an hour and 28 minutes. qualified.

In the second round the 28-year-old from Palermo will have to contend with the Belgian David Goffin, n.11 of the seeding of the Monegasque tournament.

Medvedev positive, he had trained with Nadal

- Russian Daniil Medvedev, current n.2 in the world, retired from the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo to have tested positive for Covid-19 after a test he underwent before starting to play in the tournament.

He should have made his debut in the second round, against the winner of the match between Filip Krajinovic and Nikoloz Basilashvili.

The ATP made it known, specifying that "Medvedev has already been placed in solitary confinement and continues to be followed by the medical team of the tournament".

And now problems arise for Rafa Nadal too, because the Spaniard has been training for a long time with Medvedev on the fields of the Coutry Club in Monte Carlo in recent days.

However, the ATP did not want to comment on this topic.

Meanwhile, Medvedev will spend isolation at home, being a resident of the Principality.

All the tennis players who are not, on the other hand, must remain 'on the bubble' in the hotel, from where they can only leave to train or play.

Excellent seasonal debut on clay for Jannik Sinner -

 The South Tyrolean beats Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Atp 47) in two sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo.

Tomorrow in the second round the super-match against world number 1 Novak Djokovic is scheduled.

Sinner has not played on clay since Roland Garros in October, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Rafael Nadal.

Sinner, at the first participation in the Monegasque tournament, starts badly.

In the opening game Ramos-Vinolas breaks the 1-0, with the Spaniard who immediately stretches to 2-0.

Then Sinner's reaction: the South Tyrolean lights up and wins the rebreak of 2-2 equal.

In the sixth game Sinner again tears the turn to serve from the Spaniard, leading to 4-2.

The world number 22 controls this advantage and after 33 minutes of play transforms his second set point to 6-3.

An excellent performance by Riccardo Piatti's pupil.

In the second set Sinner immediately wins the 1-0 break.

In the fourth game, the blue must cancel two break points from Ramos-Vinolas, before reaching 3-1.

Sinner defends the break, while the Spaniard is no longer able to reopen the game.

After an hour and 23 minutes the player from Pusteria closes the score with his second match ball which is worth the final 6-4.