In the early morning of April 12, Beijing time, the first round of the ATP1000 Monte Carlo Masters began to compete, and in a showdown between the post-85 veterans, Tsonga and Cilic met in a narrow road. The two have met 10 times before, with Cilic leading with 6 wins and 4 losses. Today's match Cilic easily won in two straight sets, beating Tsonga, who is about to retire after this year's French Open.
Tsonga was broken as soon as he came up in the first set, and Cilic took a 2-0 lead after saving the set. Cilic broke again in the 3rd set before he saved a 4-0 lead. In the 8th set, Cilic ushered in a serve to win the set, and he successfully saved the serve and won the first set 6-2 easily.
In the second set, Tsonga saved the break point in the first set, and in the third set Tsonga defused two consecutive break points, and the first four sets were tied 2-2. Cilic took the lead in the 5th set to complete the break before he saved the lead and then took a 4-2 lead. Tsonga lost again in the 7th set and Cilic saved in the 8th set to win the second set 6-2.
In the end, in a match that took 1 hour and 7 minutes, former US Open champion Cilic defeated former Australian Open runner-up Tsonga 6-2, 6-2 to successfully reach the second round of the men's singles. Cilic will face the winner between 10th seed Fritz and wild card player Catalina in the next round.