Russia's Karen Karchanov was pushed to win his opening match at the Monte Carlo Open today ©Getty Images

With world number one Rafael Nadal waiting in the wings before starting his quest for an 11th title at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament, play got underway next to the Mediterranean today.

Russia’s Karen Khachanov was made to work at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour Masters 1000 event when he beat Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5, 6-4 in just nine minutes short of two hours. 

Kokkinakis, making his debut at the tournament, fought hard but cracked under pressure at 3-3 in the second set.

Khachanov, who picked up his second ATP World Tour title at the Open 13 Provence in February, where he beat France’s Davis Cup hero Lucas Pouille, is now due to meet another Frenchman, number 16 seed Adrian Mannarino or wild card Gilles Simon.

Rafael Nadal is waiting in the wings to start his preparations for the French Open by playing in the Monte Carlo Open that got underway today ©Getty Images
Rafael Nadal is waiting in the wings to start his preparations for the French Open by playing in the Monte Carlo Open that got underway today ©Getty Images

Germany’s Mischa Zverev won his first match at the historic tournament by beating #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in two hours and 36 minutes.

In the only other main draw match, Russian Daniil Medvedev edged past Márton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-7, 6-2, 7-5 and will now play Czech number 12 seed and 2015 runner-up Tomas Berdych or Kei Nishikori of Japan.

Andreas Seppi, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Jeremy Chardy, Dusan Lajovic, Marco Cecchinato and Ilya Ivashka all qualified for the main draw in overcast conditions today.