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Shapovalov, who turned 20, was coming off a
spectacular run to the Miami Open semi-finals but struggled to
rediscover his service rhythm as he finished with 10 double
faults in his first clay court match of the season.
The 15th-seeded Shapovalov fought hard to clinch the opening set
but found himself immediately on the back foot when Struff
claimed an early break point in the second set.
Struff converted two more break point opportunities to seal the
second set before a Shapovalov double fault allowed the German
to tighten his grip on the match with an early 2-0 lead in the
decider.
Struff, who won 72 percent of first-serve points, completed the
turnaround in just under two hours.
British number one Kyle Edmund let an early lead slip and won
only one of the final 13 games in a 4-6 6-3 6-1 defeat by
Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Earlier, Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut recovered from a set down
to beat John Millman 3-6 6-1 6-1 and set up a second-round
meeting with compatriot and 11-time winner Rafael Nadal.
World number two Nadal will be playing his first match on
Wednesday since injuring his knee at Indian Wells last month.
If the 32-year-old lifts the trophy again on Sunday, he will be
the first player to win an ATP Tour event on 12 occasions.
"It's the start of the important clay season for me," Nadal told
a news conference.
"I hope to be healthy and I hope to be ready to compete well.
This tournament is important for me, and I hope to be
competitive from the beginning."
Nadal expects intense competition for clay court honors this
season, with Djokovic, top seed in Monte Carlo, aiming to gather
momentum on his way to a personal sweep at the French Open by
lifting his fourth straight Grand Slam title.
Last year's runner-up in Paris Dominic Thiem is high on
confidence after winning the title in Indian Wells last month,
and while Federer is not part of the Monte Carlo field, he is
scheduled for a claycourt comeback at Madrid next month.
"We can't predict the future. I hope to be one of them, but you
never know," Nadal added.
"Dominic is one of the candidates for everything, especially
after winning in Indian Wells and Novak always, of course. Let’s
see.
"Roger is always a candidate, let’s see how he’s able to adapt
his game again to the clay after a while without playing on
clay. I don't think it will be a big trouble for him because he
has the talent."
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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