Novak Djokovic

After the shocking exit of top seed Novak Djokovic one day before, Zverev, seeking his sixth ATP Masters 1000 title, remained the highest-ranked player in the tournament. A victory at Monte-Carlo would see the 24-year-old move closer to the top spot of the ATP rankings.

The 22-year-old Spanish player Davidovich Fokina defeated the Serb 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 in the second-round match in two hours 54 minutes. Struggling to impose his strokes in windy conditions, Djokovic, the top seed, sprayed too many mistakes and hit the exit door in only his second ATP tournament of the season while the Spaniard defended seven out of 11 break chances and delivered nine breaks from 20 opportunities to control the scoreboard in sets one and three.

Djokovic, who will open against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or American Marcos Giron, has never played Alcaraz, who arrives in Monte Carlo riding on the high of winning the Miami Open. Eighth seed Alcaraz is making his debut at the clay-court event and will begin against Sebastian Korda (US) or Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands). Alcaraz is 18-2 this season, having also triumphed on clay in Rio de Janeiro.

The 24-year-old Fritz jumped into the top-15 of the ATP Rankings for the first time after he captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Open, defeating Spanish stalwart Rafael Nadal in the final. Fritz became the first American man to lift the trophy in Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 2001. It is the second time he has triumphed after a tour-level event.

Djokovic was not allowed to play at the Australian Open due to his vaccination status. The Serb was also banned from entering the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open this month due to the United States' Covid guidelines. Now, the organisers said that the 34-year-old could be denied entry into the Canadian Open -- which runs from August 8 to 14 -- if rules are not changed.

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open, organisers confirmed on Wednesday. The 20-time Grand Slam champion tweeted on Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control in America "confirmed the regulations won't be changing so I won't be able to play in the U.S."

Djokovic refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19 may once again have significant implications with regard to his eligibility to play later this week. Djokovic was prevented from taking part in this year's Australian Open when he was deported from the country on the eve of the tournament back in January.

West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Shemaine Campbelle's 80-ball 66, followed by an all-round bowling performance helped the Stafanie Taylor-led team defeat defending champions England by seven runs to notch their second win in the ICC Women's World Cup at the University Oval here on Wednesday.

After Medvedev reached the quarter-finals at the Abierto Mexicano tournament in Acapulco on Wednesday, Djokovic had to advance into the last four at the Dubai Tennis Championships if he wanted to continue his bid to remain atop tennis' mountain.

The World No 1 has lifted the trophy in Dubai five times and continued his 2022 title bid with a dominant display against Khachanov, beating him 6-3, 7-6(2) in one hour and 38 minutes at the ATP 500 event. Djokovic, who made a winning return to the Tour after defeating Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round, once again showed little signs of rustiness, winning 83 per cent (38/46) of his first-serve points against Khachanov to improve to 5-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.