TENNIS in DEPTH.

Seeded players Tommy Robredo of Spain and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland were both first-round winners Sunday at the $3.6 million Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

 The 11th-seeded Robredo downed Germany’s Rainer Schuettler, 6-1, 6-4, while a 13th-seeded Wawrinka got by Serbian Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-3 at the prestigious Monte Carlo Country Club.

 In two other first-round results Sunday, Italian Simone Bolelli outlasted Swede Robin Soderling, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, and German Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, 6-1, 6-3.

 Four-time champion and current world No. 1 Rafael Nadal has beaten former top-ranked superstar Roger Federer in the previous three finals here. Nadal, who is seeking a fifth straight Monte-Carlo title this week, is also trying to become the first No. 1 seed to win the championship here since Juan Carlos Ferrero accomplished the feat in 2003.

This is one of three outdoor clay court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, joining ones in Rome and Madrid. If Nadal wins, it’ll be his 14th championship at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, tying Federer for the most all-time at such a level tournament.

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