Argentine Guido Pella dealt a second-round blow to seventh seed Marin Cilic, beating the Croatian 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Masters. Defeat in just over two hours left 2014 US Open winner Cilic with just one win from six matches since January's Australian Open, where he went out in the fourth round. Pella, who won his first career match at the event in the first round Sunday, emerged a winner as he played on the idyllic center court for the first time. "This is my best surface, I knew I had chances," the world number 35 said. "But I had to play well. I was a bit nervous at the start, it was my first time on this court. But playing here is a dream — it's unreal." Cilic was playing here for the 11th straight year, with quarterfinal showings in three of the previous four editions. Left-hander Pella came to the European clay with a title this season in Sao Paulo. He now stands 13-3 on the surface in 2019. In the first round, Briton Cam Norrie advanced in his debut match at the event, with the 23-year-old defeating Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3. Canadian revelation Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced into a second-round contest with third seed Alexander Zverev after beating Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert defeated Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-4, while local Gilles Simon rounded out opening-round play with a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of Australian Alexei Popyrin. Popyrin, 19, and playing his first ATP-level match on clay, received medical treatment on his neck while trailing a set and 4-1. Canadian Denis Shapovalov endured a birthday to forget as he suffered a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 defeat to unseeded German Jan-Lennard Struff Monday. Shapovalov, who turned 20, was coming off a spectacular run to the Miami Open semifinals but struggled to rediscover his service rhythm as he finished with 10 double faults in his first clay court match of the season. British number one Kyle Edmund let an early lead slip and won only one of the final 13 games in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Argentine Diego Schwartzman. Earlier, Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut recovered from a set down to beat John Millman 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 and set up a second-round meeting with compatriot and 11-time winner Rafael Nadal. World number two Nadal will be playing his first match Wednesday since injuring his knee at Indian Wells last month. If the 32-year-old lifts the trophy again Sunday, he will be the first player to win an ATP Tour event on 12 occasions. German Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-3 to line up against top seed Novak Djokovic; Belgian 16th seed David Goffin made short work of Argentine Guido Andreozzi 6-1, 6-4. Italy's Fabio Fognini thrilled fans from across the nearby border with his 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 comeback defeat of Andrey Rublev. Russian 10th seed Daniil Medvedev advanced easily over Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-1, but Hungarian Marton Fucsovics dumped out Nikolaz Basilashvili, the 12th seed, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. — Agencies
