MONACO: Novak Djokovic began the defence of his Monte Carlo Masters title in flamboyant style on Tuesday, taking only 45 minutes for a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Albert Montanes to maintain his perfect record against the Spanish qualifier and reach the third round.

In his first claycourt match of the season, the Serbian world number two won 11 games in succession from 1-1 and improved to 6-0 against Montanes, who has taken only one set off Djokovic.

Djokovic, bidding to become the first player to achieve an Indian Wells-Miami-Monte Carlo Masters treble in the same season, ended his opponent’s ordeal on his first match point with a volley, having broken five times and saved four break points.

The speed and ease of the win reminded him of when he beat Czech player Jan Hernych 6-0, 6-0 five years ago in the second round at Basel, Switzerland.

“For my first clay match since Roland Garros last June it was great,” said the winner. “I could not find any flaws in my game.

“My opponent was making a lot of unforced errors, I tried not to give him any rhythm. I’ve had some short matches before, it’s nice to get your work done so quickly.

“But then again, longer rallies would have given more of a test so early in the clay season.”

Djokovic, who 12 months ago ended World No 1 Rafael Nadal’s eight-year reign in the principality, has won the last four Masters events he has played, prevailing in Shanghai, Paris, Indian Wells and Miami and also won the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals.

He revealed that he has been carrying a slight wrist problem for a week but said he would not speak of it, saying only that it would soon be cleared up.

“I have a certain problem that I carry for the last week or so with the wrist,” he explained. “The short match today helped definitely. So I’m going to have some time to heal it.”

Djokovic faces Frenchman Gael Monfils in the next round, who beat 14th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

French Open runner-up and sixth seed David Ferrer of Spain needed a bit longer to reach the third round, taking just over one hour to beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0 after dropping his opening service game.

Ferrer, who lost the final here to Nadal in 2011, next plays 12th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who reached the second round with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Marcelo Granollers, or Albert Ramos of Spain.

Fifth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was made to work hard to dismiss Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-4 and ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga joined him in the third round with a hard-fought 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Tsonga needed just under two hours to go through in front of an enthusiastic crowd, although he took a medical timeout on the way to finally securing victory on his third match point.

“I just had a bad period. I felt my legs were very heavy. I didn’t feel well, so I called the doctor to explain what was happening. He gave me homeopathic treatment.”

In first-round action, it was a largely positive day for the French on the Cote d’Azur.

Michael Llodra upset slumping Polish 16th seed Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-2, Julian Benneteau advanced over Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 but Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili handed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Gilles Simon and 15th-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-2.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny was the other seeded casualty to go down as the 13th seed was beaten by Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the first round while Croat Marin Cilic beat Australian Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 and next faces Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, the third seed.