Tuesday 15 April 2014 23:06, UK
Novak Djokovic began the defence of his Monte Carlo Rolex Masters title by demolishing Albert Montanes 6-1 6-0 in just 45 minutes.
The Serbian, playing his first clay-court match of the season, did not need any time to adjust to the change of surface as he cruised past his overmatched Spanish opponent in the second round.
Montanes enjoyed his only moment of success at the very start of the contest, holding his opening service game to make it 1-1 in the first set.
He then took Djokovic to deuce in the next game but the second seed held serve and then reeled off 10 more games in succession to complete the win.
Djokovic did have to save a total of four break points but Montanes was never in danger of forcing his way into the match.
"It was my first match on this surface since Roland Garros so you never know how you're going to react and today I lost only one game so there are not too many bad things I can say about my game," Djokovic told Sky Sports.
Djokovic, who ended Rafael Nadal’s eight-year reign in Monte Carlo by beating him in last year’s final, is bidding to become the first player to win a Indian Wells-Miami-Monte Carlo Masters treble in the same year.
No 6 seed David Ferrer also cruised through his second-round encounter on Tuesday, showing his clay-court prowess in a 6-3 6-0 victory over Jeremy Chardy.
Fifth seed Tomas Berdych also progessed to round three, although he had to work a little harder for his 7-5 6-4 win over experienced Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
Ninth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is wnother big name who made it through third round after clinching a 6-4 1-6 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Two seeds were eliminated in first-round action as Mikhail Youzhny and Jerzy Janowicz both came unstuck against veteran opponents.
No 13 seed Youzhny was beaten 6-3 7-6 (7-4) by Andreas Seppi while 16th seed Janowicz was seen off 6-4 6-2 by Michael Llodra.
Elsewhere in the first round Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who won the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco on Sunday, made light of a quick turnaround to defeat Monaco native Benjamin Balleret 7-5 6-2.
Marin Cilic battled to a 6-1 3-6 6-2 victory over Marinko Matosevic to set up a second-round clash with Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka.
