Monte Carlo Masters: Britain's Jack Draper loses to Hubert Hurkacz in first round

Britain's Jack Draper suffered a narrow first-round defeat by Hubert Hurkacz at the Monte Carlo Masters.

World number 39 Draper lost 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) to the Polish 10th seed in a close clay-court meeting.

Draper had broken Hurkacz as he served for the match at 5-4 in the third to stay in contention but could not make inroads in the tie-break.

Novak Djokovic made light work of his first clay-court match of the year with a 6-1 6-2 win over Roman Safiullin.

World number one Djokovic has not won the Monte Carlo title since 2015 but is aiming to peak for this summer's Paris Olympics, which are held on the Roland Garros clay.

Draper had been the last Briton standing in the singles after Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans lost on Monday.

He was the better of the two in the second set, taking advantage of an increasingly faltering opponent to break to love for a 3-2 lead, and closed the set on a wild Hurkacz forehand.

The refocused Pole, who won his first clay-court title at the Estoril Open on Saturday, broke quickly in the third but could not serve out the match at the first attempt as Draper upped his return game.

However, Hurkacz was the stronger in the resulting tie-break to set up a meeting with Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

Earlier, third seed Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament with a muscle injury in his right forearm.

The Wimbledon champion had been due to play Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday and practised in Monte Carlo with his forearm taped.

Alcaraz is the defending champion at the Barcelona Open, which begins on 13 April.