Clay delay for Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios will delay his start to the clay court season, with the world No.15 opting to sit out Monte Carlo following his career-best run at recent hard court events.

After amassing a 16-4 record to start his season – including multiple wins over Novak Djokovic and a perfect record in Davis Cup, in which he led Australia to the semifinals – Kyrgios hopes to start his season in Portugal, where he was a finalist in 2015.

“I’m working hard to be ready for Estoril which will be my first clay court event,” the Australian told fans via Twitter.

Other high profile names in 2017’s first clay court Masters event face a challenging path to glory.

Fantasy Tennis League: Who can master Monte Carlo?

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal has been drawn in the same half as two-time titlist Novak Djokovic. Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Zverev are other potential match-ups for Nadal, who is vying for a record 50^th clay court title in Monte Carlo.

Djokovic, who won the title in 2013 and 2015, will start against Gilles Simon or Malek Jaziri in the second round and could meet the improving David Goffin.

Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, faces Mischa Zverev or Jiri Vesely first, with the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille looming in later rounds,

Andy Murray, appearing recovered from the elbow injury that forced him out of Miami, starts against Gilles Muller or Tommy Robredo.