With Cameron Norrie, Matteo Berrettini and Dan Evans already eliminated, the Monte Carlo Masters is in full swing with the second round continuing on Wednesday.
Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to be in action on Wednesday, but had to withdraw from the event and was replaced by Lorenzo Sonego, who will face Félix Auger-Aliassime.
But there are still plenty of big names involved in the next day’s match, from Casper Ruud to Andrey Rublev, who face Alejandro Tabilo and Alexei Popyrin respectively.
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Masters acca
- Casper Ruud will beat Alejandro Tabilo at 1/4
- Three sets in Alexei Popyrin against Andrey Rublev at 6/4
- Holger Rune to win 2-0 against Sumit Nagal at 5/6
- Karen Khachanov will beat Francisco Cerundolo at 4/7
Accumulator returns 8/1
Ruud can overtake Tabilo
Casper Ruud was a semi-finalist at the recent Estoril Open and he can follow that up by winning his first match in Monte Carlo.
As top seed, Ruud would have hoped for one final appearance at Estoril, but he still impressed throughout the tournament, winning straight-set drubbings against Botic van de Zandschulp and Marton Fucsovics.
He was runner-up at the Mexican Open last month and should be far too strong for Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo.
Rublev could be pushed closely by Popyrin
There are a number of cut-price picks on the card on Wednesday, including Andrey Rublev, although he may struggle to justify his favoritism against Alexei Popyrin.
Rublev might be rusty, having not played in almost three weeks and even then he was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Tomas Machac in his opening match at the Miami Open.
Rublev also failed to impress at the Indian Wells Masters, losing in the round of 16 to Jiri Lehecka and Australian ace Popyrin could take a set from his opponent.
Expect a Routine Win for Rune
Holger Rune was beaten 6-1 6-1 by Fabian Marozsan at the Miami Open last month, but it was likely a one-off incident for the Dane, rather than a bad streak.
Rune has already been a semi-finalist at the Mexican Open and a quarter-finalist at the Indian Wells Masters and he can return to winning ways in Monte Carlo.
His opponent, Indian talent Sumit Nagal, is rather inexperienced and had to fight through two qualifiers to reach the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Khachanov can defeat Cerundolo again
It was only last month that Karen Khachanov recorded a victory over Francisco Cerundolo, winning in three sets at the Miami Open and he can prevail again in their meeting at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Khachanov was impressive in his first match in Monte Carlo, beating British talent Norrie 7-5 7-6.
This follows a pretty solid run to the round of 16 in Miami and he looks good enough to advance to the next round.
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