Daniil Medvedev navigated his way into the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday, eventually seeing off former world number eight Karen Khachanov 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.Former US Open winner Medvedev fought through in just shy of three hours on Court Rainier III against Khachanov, after having been a set and a break up on his fellow Russian.After an early exit from the Miami Open last month caused the 29-year-old to exit the top 10, Medvedev got back to winning ways on clay as he chases his first title since claiming the Rome Open two years ago.Elsewhere, 11th seed Ben Shelton was stunned by 42nd-ranked Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and there will be no showdown between Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka after the Swiss was defeated by Alejandro Tabilo.Shelton went down 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-1 to his Spanish opponent, who reached the 2022 final at Monte Carlo. Wild card Wawrinka also played out an epic that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours before succumbing 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 to Chile’s Tabilo.France’s Gael Monfils beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and Matteo Berrettini set up a second-round meeting with top seed Alexander Zverev after winning in straight sets against Mariano Navone.Felix Auger-Aliassime went down to German qualifier Daniel Altmaier 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, but fellow top 20 player Lorenzo Musetti avoided a similar fate by coming back from a set down to defeat qualifier Bu Yunchaokete of China.Alcaraz says pressure to catch top-ranked Sinner ‘killed’ himWorld number three Carlos Alcaraz said the pressure to reclaim the top ranking during the absence of the banned Jannik Sinner had “killed” him and that he would approach the clay season without any expectations.The top-ranked Sinner is serving a three-month doping ban that ends on May 4 and Alcaraz was seen as one of the contenders to replace the Italian in the rankings in the build-up to the French Open next month but he has not made the most of his opportunities.“A lot of people are asking me, or are telling me, that I have the chance to become number one if Jannik isn’t playing,” Alcaraz, 21, said in Monte Carlo, where he begins preparations for his Roland Garros title defence.“So probably that pressure has killed me in some way.”The Spaniard won his first title of the season in Rotterdam two months ago, before losing in the quarter-finals of Doha, the semi-finals of Indian Wells and the opening round of Miami last week to sit more than 3,500 points behind Sinner. Alexander Zverev is almost 1,000 points above Alcaraz in the standings in second place.Alcaraz told reporters that he will not focus on the top ranking heading into Monte Carlo, where he will take on Italian wild card Fabio Fognini or Francisco Cerundolo first.“I’m just thinking that I’m not able to become number one in the clay season, even if Jannik is not playing, I don’t have the chance to do it,” Alcaraz said.“I think I’m too far from Jannik. So I’m just here and I realise that I don’t have to think about it and just go there and play.“That’s my mindset right now,” he said.