Alex De Minaur edge Wawrinka to reach second round in Monte Carlos

Alex De Minaur moved to 20 wins on the season Tuesday when he moved past former champion Stan Wawrinka on a wet day at Monte Carlos Masters.

After rain delayed the start of play by nearly two hours and 30 minutes, the De Minaur came out firing in the heavy conditions. The Australian limited errors from the baseline and comfortably tracked down Wawrinka’s strikes to advance after just 63 minutes.

“My attitude [was important],” said De Minaur. “[I didn’t play] my best tennis to come out with on the first match on the clay. So I stayed tough, stayed solid, I played tough when I needed to and I found my way into the match and started playing better and better.”

De Minaur is making his fourth appearance in the Principality and has never advanced beyond the second round. He will aim to change that record when he next meets Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

American Sebastian Korda also raced into the second round. The World No. 27 dispatched 2022 finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-2. Korda, who captured his only tour-level title on clay in Parma in 2021, meets second seed Jannik Sinner in the second round.