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Thompson rallied from a break down in the second set to 4-5, but Tsitsipas produced an instinctive response, winning seven of the final nine games of the clash.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, you don’t know what your opponent is capable of,” Tsitsipas said. “He showed a good first set, he seemed to be playing quite reserved and wasn’t giving me much to work with. 

"I was just trying to find something to reignite that consistency within my game.”

Thompson dropped just four points on serve in the opening set, yet the key behind Tsitsipas’s comeback was his shift to a more aggressive return position in the second set, when he moved inside the baseline to apply significant pressure in the Australian’s service games.

“I tried to work around my serve, I felt like these were the moments that were tricky at the start of the match,” Tsitsipas said. “Once that felt more consistent, I tried to focus on my return. Trying to return from far back didn’t seem to work much… I have had success returning far back on clay courts, but today it didn’t do the job, so I had to rely on closer returns, and it seemed to work well.”

Thompson was ultimately left to rue a smash, which he blazed long to gift Tsitspas a decisive break lead in the deciding set. In the third round, the 26-year-old will face Nuno Borges or Pedro Martinez.

Tsitsipas, who has won three of the previous four editions of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo, now boasts a 21-3 record at the tournament. With a fourth title, the Greek No. 1 would trail only 11-time winner Rafael Nadal as the second-most successful player at the event.

Indian Wells champion Jack Draper made an impressive start to his clay season with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Marcos Giron. 

The British leftt-hander, competing at a career-high No. 6 in the ATP Rankings, next plays Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.