Djokovic, Ferrer cruise in Monte-Carlo

Novak Djokovic lost only one game as he kicked off his title defense at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Tuesday afternoon. Djokovic destroyed Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-0 in a mere 45 minutes and he now awaits either Gael Monfils or Pablo Carreno Busta.

“For the first match on clay, it was great,” said the second-ranked Serb. “I lost only one game, so there were not too many flaws in my game that I could recall. I was just trying to use the court well, not allow [Montanes] to get into a rhythm. I was changing the angles. I was coming to the net, being aggressive. Just very good first match.”

David Ferrer also had a very good opener, in which he too served up a bagel in the second set. The sixth-seeded Spaniard crushed Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0 in one hour and five minutes. Ferrer capitalized on horrendous 33 percent serving by Chardy and earned five breaks. He will go up against either Grigor Dimitrov or Albert Ramos for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Chardy may have bowed out, but two of France’s best hopes advanced. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won a second-round encounter 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 over Philipp Kohlschreiber. Monfils, who withdrew last week from Casablanca due to an ankle injury, contested his first-round on Tuesday and ousted No. 14 seed Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-6(4).

“I played well,” Monfils assured. “I was happy with my serve. I was trying to focus on my serve and on the first shot just after that, trying to be aggressive. I was able to do it, so I’m happy. I didn’t have much preparation on clay; only two days. I’m still making mistakes. I’m not moving perfectly yet.”

Andreas Seppi came up with the shot of the day, and what will certainly be one of the shots of the year, in his 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Mikhail Youzhny:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMvYsr9z1Ao]

Jurgen Melzer made his comeback from a left shoulder injury when he played his first match since last fall’s Shanghai Masters. The 32-year-old Austrian fell to Julien Benneteau 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 after two hours and one minute of play.