( CNN ) -- Marin Cilic sealed his place in the third round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters after a hard-fought win over Igor Andreev of Russia on Tuesday . The fourth seed eventually dispatched Andreev 6-7 ( 4-7 ) 6-1 6-4 but it took the Croatian nearly three hours to do so . Cilic , appearing in his first clay-court match for 10 months , started slowly and allowed the Russian to dominate the early exchanges and clinch the first set on a tie-break . But Cilic regained his momentum in the second set , offering up just one game as he marched to a 6-1 success . And though Cilic twice went a break down in the deciding set , he held on to claim it 6-4 and progress to round three . `` The conditions were tough , the balls were heavy , '' Cilic told the official ATP Tour Web site . `` I just wanted to stay in it after losing that first set by making him play a lot of shots . Afterwards I found some solutions so I could win easier points and win the mental battle . '' Cilic was joined in round three by French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Spanish sixth seed Fernando Verdasco , who both recorded straight-sets victories . Verdasco breezed past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2 6-1 in just under 75 minutes , while Tsonga defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 ( 7-5 ) 7-5 . Tomas Berdych set up a third-round match with Verdasco after beating Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets . The Czech 10th seed took less than an hour to record a 6-2 6-0 victory . The top names in the field -- world No . 2 Novak Djokovic , five-time champion Rafael Nadal and third seed Andy Murray -- begin their campaigns on Wednesday after being handed a first-round bye . Nadal beat Britain 's Murray in last year 's semifinals before going on to defeat Serbian Djokovic to claim the title . The tournament marks the start of the European clay season in the buildup to the second grand slam event of 2010 , the French Open starting on May 24 .
Cilic beats Igor Andreev in second round of Monte Carlo Rolex Masters . Cilic defeats the Russian 6-7 ( 7-5 ) 6 -1 6-4 in just under three hours . French sixth seed Fernando Verdasco beats Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2 6-1 . French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beats Monte Carlo Rolex Masters of Russia 7-6 ( 7-5 ) 7 -5 .