Summary John Isner beat Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 at the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday.
MONTE CARLO (AFP) - John Isner defeated fellow American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 to win his first career match at the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday as Latvian 13th seed Ernests Gulbis fell 6-1, 6-0.
Isner, seeded 15, has only ventured onto European clay this early in a spring once before in a career which began eight years ago.
But a defeat in the 2013 first round did little to boost confidence for the self-confessed USA homebody who feels out of his depth culturally in Europe and much prefers to stay on his side of the Atlantic whenever possible.
Isner reached the Miami semi-finals a fortnight ago, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. He then crashed out as top seed last week in Houston.
"I like this court even if I ve not played much on it," said the winner. "I m just happy to be off to a good start in 2015.
"I m not the best mover on the clay, so I think serve-and-volley can be a good tactic when an opponent is far back on the baseline. I hope to keep going here."
Isner finished his afternoon with back-to-back aces - his 12th and 13th - as he advanced.
Gulbis refused to bow to stress as the laid-back Latvian exited timidly, a 6-1, 6-0 first-round victim of Austria s Andreas Haider-Maurer.
The admittedly slumping world number 17 suffered his eighth loss from nine matches played this season, which began with a shoulder injury carried over from 2014 which disrupted his 2015 preparation.
Nevertheless, the 26-year-old who shocked the sport with a Roland Garros semi-final last spring, is far from panic stations.
With supreme logic, the loveable outsider quickly analysed the situation: "Have I ever won more than two rounds in this tournament? No. Is it something new? No.
"I m still ranked in the top 20 in the world. I have a lot of points to defend, but no problem. Listen, I won two tournaments in the south of France (in 2014), Marseille and Nice. I always play well in the south of France. It s nothing.
"I focus on every match, every place. Maybe it doesn t look like it, but I m trying to give my best on every point.
"Unfortunately today there were different reasons why I played like this. But, you know, no excuses. The guy won and that s it. I don t see the big problem. I m playing well in practice."
Gulbis lasted for less than an hour against Heider-Maurer, who plays Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round at one of the most picturesque venues in tennis.
The Latvian, son of one of his Baltic country s major industrialists, finished last season in the ATP top 20 for the first time in his career.
He played quarter-finals 11 times and won a career-high 41 matches, adding two more titles to comprise a total of six and a flawless 6-0 record in title matches.
But Gulbis remains calm as he works through his current situation.
"It s a lack of preparation, it s always tough for me to change from hard court to clay. Especially if I had a shitty season on hard court, to come play on clay, it s even tougher.
"I need couple weeks, I need this week, I need matches. I need to go to Barcelona next week. I need to practise."
Elsewhere in the first round, Spanish 12th seed Roberto Bautista Agut began with a 6-0, 6-2 hammering of German Benjamin Becker while 2013 semi-finalist Fabio Fognini of Italy defeated Poland s Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-1.
Alexandr Dolgopolov stopped Croatian teenager Borna Coric 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in two and a quarter-hours; Joao Sousa of Portugal beat Edouardo Roger-Vasselin of France 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 as the tournament mourned the death Sunday after illness of former tournament director Patrice Dominguez.
