Murray, Tsonga win Monte Carlo openers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Sports Network) - British star Andy Murray and birthday boy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were a pair of second-round winners Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Masters, the third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year.
The third-seeded Murray mauled Serb Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3 in 67 minutes, while the fourth-seeded French favorite Tsonga, who turned 27 Tuesday, trounced German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4 on the red clay at the famed Monte Carlo Country Club. This week's top-eight seeds enjoyed opening-round byes.
Thirteenth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco also moved into the third round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Croat Ivan Dodig. Verdasco was the 2010 Monte Carlo runner-up to fellow Spanish lefthander Rafael Nadal, who is this week's second seed behind reigning Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Verdasco should have his hands full with Tsonga in the round of 16 on Thursday.
The great Nadal won an Open Era-record seventh consecutive title here last year and is a staggering 39-1 lifetime in Monte Carlo. He topped David Ferrer in last year's all-Spanish finale.
Nadal and fellow former No. 1 Roger Federer are the all-time leaders with 19 Masters titles apiece.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A first-round upset came Tuesday when Kazakhstanian qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin fought back to beat 14th-seeded German Florian Mayer 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
France's Michael Llodra exited the draw by succumbing to Italian Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 on Day 3.
Additional opening-round wins came for Italians Andreas Seppi, Filippo Volandri and wild card Potito Starace, Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci, and Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil, who drilled former top-10 Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-3. Bellucci handled South African slugger Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4. Seppi is rewarded with a second-round match against the world No. 1 and 2009 Monte Carlo runner-up Djokovic, while Bellucci will face the 2011 Monte Carlo runner-up Ferrer on Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 2012 winner of this $3.2 million event will collect $603,000.