Djokovic off to dominant start

Monte Carlo - Novak Djokovic has stormed into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters as the defending champion won his 11th straight match of the season 6-1, 6-0 over Albert Montanes on Tuesday.

The second seed is bidding for a trophy at his fifth straight Masters 1000 after ending last season as winner at Shanghai and Paris before sweeping Indian Wells and Miami last month.

He won the last 11 games in a row, finishing in 45 minutes and improving to 17-2 on the season.

The Serb ranked second in the world behind top seed and eight-time Monte Carlo champion Rafael Nadal ran his record over Spain's Montanes to a comfortable 6-0.

"For my first clay match since Roland Garros last June it was great," said the winner. "I could not find any flaws in my game.

"My opponent was making a lot of unforced errors, I tried not to give him any rhythm. I've had some short matches before, it's nice to get your work done so quickly.

"But then again, longer rallies would have given more of a test so early in the clay season."

Djokovic revealed that he has been carrying a slight wrist problem for a week but said he would not speak of it, saying only that it would soon be cleared up.

Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer, the 2011 finalist, started with a win over Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga joined Djokovic and Ferrer in the third round with a hard-fought 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Tsonga needed just under two hours to go through in front of an enthusiastic crowd, although he took a medical timeout on the way to finally securing victory on his third match point.

"I just had a bad period. I felt my legs were very heavy. I didn't feel well, so I called the doctor to explain what was happening. He gave me homeopathic treatment."

It was a largely positive day for the French on the Cote d'Azur.

Michael Llodra upset slumping Polish 16th seed Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-2.

Julian Benneteau advanced over Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 but Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili handed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Gilles Simon.

Bulgarian 12th seed Grigor Dimitrov reached the second round over Marcelo Granollers 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 while Italian Andreas Seppi defeated 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Nadal, Roger Federer and Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka were to beginning in the second round on Wednesday.

Results on the third day of the ATP Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday (x denotes seeded player):

First round:
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x13) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)
Michael Llodra (FRA) bt Jerzy Janowicz (POL x16) 6-4, 6-2
Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) bt Federico Delbonis (ARG) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Julien Benneteau (FRA) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Guillermo Garca-Lpez (ESP) bt Benjamin Balleret (MON) 7-5, 6-2
Pablo Carreo (ESP) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 6-3, 6-3

Second round:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x9) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
Novak Djokovic (SRB x2) bt Albert Montas (ESP) 6-1, 6-0