Jack Draper makes strong start to clay court season with convincing win at Monte Carlo Masters

The British No 1 looked in good touch in Monaco as he swept aside Marcos Giron

Jack Draper opened his clay court season with a straight sets win over Marcos Giron (Getty)

Jack Draper made a superb start to his clay court season with a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 victory over Marcos Giron at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters.

With his service game and forehand functioning well, the British No 1 and fifth seed spent just an hour on court as he powered past the American to secure a spot in the last 16.

Draper stamped his authority on the second-round match with two breaks in a first set he won in just under half an hour, and it was a similar story as he upped the tempo in the second.

Giron had little answer and became increasingly error-prone as Draper wrapped up a comfortable win with another break.

Draper, who received a first-round bye, said on Sky Sports: "It's not easy conditions here sometimes and we were obviously playing later (in the day) but I feel like I have been transitioning well to the clay.

"I've been working hard to look for my forehand and do all the things to be effective on this surface as I have struggled a little bit in the last couple of years.

"Hopefully this year I can have a good run."

Draper's victory came after a shock defeat for top seed and world number two Alexander Zverev at the hands of Matteo Berrettini.

Alexander Zverev was dumped out of the Monte Carlo Masters by Matteo Berettini (Getty)

The German was beaten 2-6 6-3 7-5 as Berrettini came from behind to snatch victory and claim the biggest win of his career by ranking, in a tense final set.

The Italian Berrettini, the world number 34, failed to serve out for the match at 5-4 but broke again in the next game, with one forehand winner coming after a remarkable 48-shot rally. He then made no mistake in his next service game, completing victory in two hours and 27 minutes.

The three-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas beat the Australian Jordan Thompson 4-6 6-4 6-2.

In one of the remaining first-round matches, former world number three Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-3 6-4.

PA