Madrid (Spain) – Classified for the main draw of the Masters 1000 in Madrid through the qualifier, Thiago Monteiro from Ceará found his way into the main draw. He will face Serbian Dusan Lajovic, 33 years old and currently 65th in the world, in the first round.
By breaking the quali in Madrid, Monteiro joined Thiago Wild from Paraná and João Fonseca from Rio de Janeiro in the dispute, ending a 14 year fast without three Brazilians competing in the same Masters 1000. If he gets past Lajovic in his debut, he will challenge Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.
“Another Masters 1000 bracket. Another excellent result and a great objective achieved. Being able to be consistent in these big tournaments is what makes the difference in the ranking. Now it’s time to take the confidence I gained in the qualifying games to the first round and go with everything”, said Thiago Monteiro, who beat Moldovan Radu Albot this Tuesday by 7/6 (8-6), 1/6 and 6 /4.
“It was a very tough game today, very complicated. Albot is a very solid guy and I was behind at the beginning of the game, but I kept fighting. Today it was important to believe in what I was doing and in the game. As much as I was in adverse situations, I know that the game changes quickly. I was confident in my game and that was the detail that favored my side in the end”, analyzed the number 2 in Brazil and 118th in the world.
Seventh meeting between Monteiro and Lajovic
It will be the fourth time they have measured strength in ATP main brackets and the seventh in total. Lajovic has the advantage in terms of ATP level matches, with two wins and one loss, but overall the two are tied, with three wins for each side.
The Serb won their first meeting, ten years ago in the quali at the Brasil Open, he also did well at the ATP 250 in Los Cabos (2016) and at Roland Garros, both in the first round. Monteiro triumphed in the first round of the ATP 250 in Bastad (2017) and won the two most recent clashes.
Two years ago, Monteiro and Lajovic crossed paths twice, both with victories for the left-hander from Fortaleza, who beat the Serb in the quarterfinals of the Salzburg challenger and then repeated the feat in the quali at the ATP 500 in Vienna. There were four matches on clay, with two victories for each side.
Monteiro breaks qualifying in Madrid and competes in his 10th Masters 1000
