Medvedev delivers Monte-Carlo meltdown during double-bagel defeat

Daniil Medvedev smashed his racquet seven times during a 40-second meltdown in his second-round defeat to Matteo Berrettini at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

After being swept aside in the opening set, Medvedev finally lost his cool early in the second as he suffered the first 6-0 6-0 defeat of his career on Court Rainier III.

Berrettini needed just 25 minutes to take the first set, and the Italian's dominance continued as an out-of-sorts Medvedev eventually took his anger out on his racquet.

Having slammed a simple forehand into the net, Medvedev hurled his racquet to the back of the court, picking it up and going on to smash it into the ground a further two times.

By that time, the crowd started cheering him on, with the former US Open champion duly obliging before carefully placing his battered piece of equipment into a bin courtside.

However, things still went from bad to worse for Medvedev, who continued spraying errors across the court as Berrettini sealed his progression with his first match point.

"I think it was one of the best performances of my life," Berrettini said. "I think I missed three shots in the entire match, and it is not easy against a tricky player like Daniil.

"I think the game plan was perfect, and my weapons were working.

"I faced two break points in the first game and then after that it felt I was playing better than him. I was not expecting to win zero, zero like that.

"But I kept my focus as I know one break or two breaks is not enough sometimes, so I kept pushing."

It was also a day to forget for 2023 champion Andrey Rublev, whose hopes of a second Monte-Carlo title were dashed by Belgian Zizou Bergs.

Bergs earned a 6-4 6-1 victory in one hour and 17 minutes, with his reward a clash against third seed Alexander Zverev in the last 16.

Data Debrief: Brilliant Berretini's delightful double-bagel

Berrettini is just the fifth player since the ATP Rankings were published in 1973 to defeat a top-10 opponent with a 6-0 6-0 scoreline.

The Italian is also the second player since the format's introduction in 1990 to reach the R16 in an ATP Masters 1000 event without having dropped a game, after Lleyton Hewitt in Cincinnati 2002 (minimum of two matches).