At the Monte Calo Masters, three Brits were in action on their first day of work.
The Brits at the Monte Carlo Masters
Aljaz Bedene kicked off his clay court campaign with a round one match against Lukas Rosol. Bedene, the British number two and ranked 60 in the world, is one place higher than his Czech opponent. The head-to-head was in the favour of Rosol as the players took to the court. The Brit, though is a handy clay court player, having grown up in Slovenia before moving to the UK in 2008; Bedene switched nationality to British at the end of 2014 when he officially put his paperwork in.
The last time they played, Rosol won over the three set distance, after the Brit took the first set 6-1. This time Bedene wanted to get the win and level up the head to head. With a match against Rafael Nadal in the second round waiting for the winner, the Brit did not face any break points in the first set. The Czech player was unable to get a look in on the game of Bedene, and as the Brit broke twice, the first set was soon in the bag 6-2.
Second set
In the second set the Rosol final managed to work out the Brit serve, and carved out a break point opportunity, which he converted on the first attempt. It didn't last long though as the Brit broke twice to put the Czech on the back foot once again. There would be no third set this time, as the Brit secured the win in straight sets by taking it 6-3. Bedene faces the King of Clay in the next round.
Doubles
The doubles also kicked off today for Brits as Andy Murray teamed up with Dom Inglot and entered the doubles. Inglot and his regular partner Robert Lindstedt are both playing the event, but as their combined ranking was not enough to enter regularly, they split apat. Inglot and Murray, both part of the Davis Cup winning team of 2015, have played doubles together before, but Murray does not venture onto the doubles circuit often. This leaves Murray with a doules ranking of 172. Playing against Pablo Cuevas & Marcel Granollers it took until the seventh game before the Brits secured the break, from there they served out the set comfortably 6-3.
The second set saw Murray and Inglot back in their groove, although they did not have it all their own way, as Inglot was broken in the eighth game handing the break to Cuevas & Granollers with a double fault. The Brits did not panic though and soon broke back again to restore their lead. This was all the pair needed and they soon had the match in the bag with a straight sets win 6-4. With just over an hour of play, this as an ideal warm up for Murray who will play his second round singles match tomorrow, receiving a bye in the first round.