Jannik Sinner battled past Alexander Shevchenko 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 in the night match to set up a third round match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Shevchenko earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Sinner broke straight back in the third game. Sinner broke twice in the seventh and ninth games to win the first set 6-3.
Shevchenko went up an immediate break in the first game of the second set to take a 2-0 lead. Sinner fended off a break point in the fifth game. The Italian star was not able to convert two break points in the 14-point eighth game, but he broke back in the tenth game to draw level to 5-5.
Sinner went up a 2-1 lead in the tie-break, but Shevchenko won five consecutive points to take a 6-2 lead. The Russian player sealed the tie-break 7-4 on his third set point.
The third set went on serve until the fifth game, when Sinner converted his first break point to take a 3-2 lead. The Italian held serve in the sixth game before earning his second break to take a 5-2 lead, when Shevchenko hit a forehand into the net. Sinner went down 0-40 when he was serving for the match, but he saved three break points to hold serve on his first match point.
“I think I was quite in the zone, trying to play every point in the maximum. I missed a couple of points, especially in the second set and in the tie-break, but you have to cut this part away, and then try to be ready for the third set, which I have done. I reacted very well”, said Sinner.
Stefanos Tsitsipas advannced to the third round with a 6-3 6-3 win over Nuno Borges.
Tsitsipas was leading by a set and a break at 6-3 4-3 when the match was suspended by rain on Saturday. As the match resumed on Sunday, Tsitsipas won 8 of the 11 points to seal the win in straight sets.
Tsitsipas set up a third round match against Lorenzo Sonego.
Holger Rune cruised past Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-2 in 1 hour and 16 minutes. Rune broke serve twice in the third and fifth games to open up a 5-2 lead. Fognini pulled one break back in the eighth game to close the gap to 4-5, as Rune hit a smash into the net cord wide. Rune held serve with a forehand in the 10th game to serve out the first set on his second opportunity.
Rune broke twice in the first and third games to open up a 3-0 lead in the second set and held on his next service games to win the second set 6-2.
Alexander Zverev came back from one set down to beat David Goffin 5-7 6-3 6-4 in a clash between two former top 10 setting up a third round match against J.J Wolf.
Zverev earned an immediate break in the first game, but Goffin pulled back on serve in the second game. Zverev took control of the match by earning two consecutive breaks in the third and fifth games to open up a 4-1 lead. Goffin pulled one of the breaks back for 2-4. Zverev earned two set points at 5-4, but he was not able to convert them. Goffin won four consecutive games from 3-5 down with two breaks to close out the first set 7-5.
Goffin won his sixth consecutive game from 3-5 down to open up a 2-0 lead in the second set with a break in the second game. Zverev broke straight back in the third game and held serve to draw level to 2-2. Zverev converted his fourth break point in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The German player sealed the second set 6-3 with another break in the ninth game.
The third set went on serve. Zverev was not able to convert two break points in the second game. The German player closed out the match with a a break on his first match point in the 10th game when Goffin made an unforced error.
Casper Ruud edged Alexander Bublik 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-0) in an entertaining match to reach the fourth round. Ruud broke serve in the second and fourth games to win the first set 6-1. Both players went on serve until the 10th game when Bublik broke Ruud to win the second set 6-4 forcing the match to the decider. The third set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Ruud earned four mini-breaks to win the tie-break without dropping a point. Ruud reached the semifinals in his past two appearances in Rome.
“It’s been a very good tournament for me in my career. I have reached the semifinals twice and I lost to Novak Djokovic both times. It shows that I have been beating a lot of players up until facimg one of the best ever”, said Ruud.
Lorenzo Musetti beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-4 in the all-Italian match. Arnaldi saved four break points in the fifth game of the first set, but Musetti converted his fifth chance to take a 3-2 lead. As the 2022 Hamburg and Neaples champion served for the first set at 5-4, he had to save two break points. He won four consecutive points from 15-40 to seal the first set 6-4.
Musetti broke serve in the third game. He did convert a break point in the fifth point and came back from 0-30 down to seal the win on his second match point.
