Wednesday at the 2026 Monte-Carlo Masters started perfectly (literally) for Italian tennis. Matteo Berrettini blanked Daniil Medvedev in two sets, and he announced once again to the tennis world just how great he can be. After Berrettini's match, though, the days took a downward turn for the state of tennis in Italy.
Tenth-seed Flavio Cobolli was dropped in straight sets by Belgian upstart Alexander Blockx (one of the best names in the sport), 6-3, 6-3, and was as lost as the score implies. Blockx played brutally efficient tennis with 21 winners and just 14 unforced errors, while Cobolli was 13 and 24, respectively.
The match was dictated by the 21-year-old Blockx winning 79 percent of his second serves, a ridiculous number. He dropped just four points on that serve. He was never broken. He will be a threat for the rest of the event.
Italians bad day gets worse at Monte-Carlo Masters as Valentin Vacherot defeats Lorenzo Musetti
After Cobolli lost, fellow Italian and fourth-seed Lorenzo Musetti faced hometown hero Valentin Vacherot, whom the crowd was firmly behind, even though Monte-Carlo is just a stone's throw from the Italian border. The 27-year-old Vacherot has moved up to a career-high of 23 on the ATP tour, but he has only one title in his career.
He also hasn't been especially impressive on clay and has only played 16 career singles matches entering the 2026 Monte-Carlo Masters. What he has is a massive serve, though, and while he isn't the best mover on tour, once he gets to a shot on clay, he can turn from defensive to offensive quickly.
The match with Musetti was anything but easy, however. The player from Monaco had to push for an 8-6 tie-break victory in the first set. While he played with ease for most of the second set, his nerves had to be close to overwhelming in front of the partisan audience on Wednesday. He was able to get a break and simply needed to hold to move into the third round.
He stopped landing his first serve at 5-4, however. This seemed to be a sure sign of tightness and nervousness. He fell behind 15-40, and was looking at the set, potentially moving to another tie-break, and one was right to wonder after he hit the ball long to be broken whether he could hold on and win the match.
Oddly, Valentin Vacherot appeared to relax in the next game while on Lorenzo Cobolli's serve and got a relatively early break to jump back ahead 6-5 and on serve. This time, he was able to hold and pull off the upset. He will next face Hubert Hurkacz in the third round.
For fans of Italian tennis, not all is lost. Matteo Berrettini is playing well, of course. There is also some guy named Jannik Sinner who is still in the Monte-Carlo Masters, too.