Monte Carlo Masters chaos breaks out as player withdraws an hour before match
The Monte Carlo Masters was rocked by withdrawal and a mid-match retirement on Tuesday.
Day three of the Monte Carlo Masters only got underway around 90 minutes ago, but it’s already been tough going for organisers. Roberto Bautista Agut retired just 23 minutes into the first match on the centre court. And Jakub Mensik has now withdrawn roughly an hour before he was due to take to the court for his first-round match.
The Czech star was expected to face Fabian Marozsan in the second match on Court Des Princes, following Tomas Etcheverry vs Grigor Dimitrov. While Etcheverry and Dimitrov were already in the middle of the second set, Mensik pulled out of the tournament.
The world No. 26 has been replaced by lucky loser Damir Dzumhur, who will have to scramble to be ready for the match. Luckily for Dzumhur, Dimitrov was able to force a third and final set against Etcheverry on Court Des Princes, buying him more time.
The official draw sheet for the Monte Carlo Masters cited “toe” as the reason for Mensik’s withdrawal. He has also pulled out of the doubles event after winning his opening match alongside Jiri Lehecka on Sunday. Earlier this season, Mensik was also forced to pull out of the Australian Open before facing Novak Djokovic in the fourth round due to an abdominal muscle injury.
The Monte Carlo Masters has already been rocked by several withdrawals. Frances Tiafoe, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and Kamil Majchrzak all pulled out after the draw was made, with lucky losers coming in to replace them.
Seven players, including Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper, also withdrew before the tournament started. And seven others, who were ranked high enough to make the main draw, did not sign up altogether. This is the only non-mandatory Masters 1000 tournament, which means players are not penalised for skipping it, which often leads to several withdrawals.
Day three of the Monte Carlo Masters also got off to a bad start when lucky loser Bautista Agut retired just 23 minutes into his first-round match against Matteo Berrettini. The Spaniard was trailing 0-4 when he threw in the towel.
Bautista Agut struggled to move around the baseline and looked towards his box after getting broken for the second time, signalling that he could not continue. He quickly ran to the net to shake hands with Berrettini.
“What a disappointing start to the day that is,” commentator Nick Lester said. “Berrettini knows all about this; he’s suffered with injuries, but he’s through. Day at the office, just 20 minutes or so. He’ll take that. Disappointing.”
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