Jaume Munar says goodbye in the first round against the Russian Roman Safiullin, who will face Novak Djokovic
MADRID, 8 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canadian tennis player Félix Auger-Aliassime will be the rival of the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz in his debut in the Monte Carlo tournament (Monaco), the third Masters 1,000 of the season and played on clay, in which Jaume Munar said goodbye in the first round to fall this Monday against the Russian Roman Safiullin (7-5, 6-1).
The Murcian, number three in the world, is exempt from the first round due to his status as third seed in the Monegasque competition, and will debut in the second round against number 35 in the ATP ranking, who beat the Italian Luca Nardi in his debut without face break balls against (6-2, 6-3).
It will be the sixth time that both tennis players meet on the circuit, with a positive balance of 3-2 for the North American. After falling in the first three duels between the two, Alcaraz was able to beat Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells in 2003, and this same year he beat him again in the Californian desert on his way to revalidate his crown.
For his part, Munar was eliminated in Monte Carlo after losing the match against Safiullin, who will be the first rival of the world number one, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, in the Principality.
The Spaniard, current world number 72, took a 2-1 lead in the first set with a break in the third game to which the Russian responded with a counterbreak. A new break by his opponent in the twelfth game, after five wasted breaking points from the Spaniard, closed the opening set.
Already in the second set, Safiullin went ahead and started with a 5-0 that Munar was able to stop by winning his only serve of the entire set, before his rival put an end to the contest after one hour and 37 minutes of play. .