This year’s Miami Open finalist Grigor Dimitrov moved past Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5 6-4 after 1 hour and 39 minutes with a break of serve in the final game of each set at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Dimitrov won 92% of his first serve points. 

Dimitrov is looking to bounce back from his recent defeats in the third round in Monte-Carlo and in the second round in Madrid. 

Dimitrov set up a third round match against French qualifier Terence Altman, who was leading 7-5 1-0 when his opponent Lorenzo Musetti retired from the match.  

“I am happy with the win. It was a difficult match today. A lefty in the first round is never easy. The conditions were the warmest this year. Clay, lefty, so everything adds up, but I am happy to finish in straight sets”, said Dimitrov. 

Ben Shelton came back from one set down to beat Pavel Kotov 4-6 6-3 6-4 after 2 hours and 40 minutes. 

Shelton, who won the Houston title in 2021 on clay court, improved his record to 6-1 on this surface in 2021. The US player won 72% on his second serve. 

Shelton did not convert a break point in the eighth game. Kotov converted his second break point in the ninth game to win the first set 6-4. The second set went on serve until the eighth game, when Shelton earned his first break to win the second set 6-3. Shelton dropped just four points on serve in the second set. 

Kotov saved a break point in the fifth game of the third set. Shelton converted his third break point in the ninth game and sealed the win on his first match point. 

Alexander Zverev, who won the Rome title in 2017, cruised past Aleksandar Vukic 6-4 6-0 in 1 hour and 21 minutes. Zverev hit 20 winners to 17 unforced errors. The German player broke three times to take a bagel win in the first set and earned another break in the 10^th game to seal the second set 6-4. 

Matteo Arnaldi came back from one set down to beat Harold Mayot 3-6 7-5 6-4 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. 

Arnaldi saved two break points in the first game. Mayot broke serve at love in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead after a double fault from Arnaldi. Arnaldi earned a break point in the eighth game but Mayot saved it with a drop-shot. Mayot earned his double break on his second set point in the ninth game to seal the first set 6-3. 

The second set went on serve until the eighth game when Arnaldi saved two break points to hold serve for 4-4. The Italian player converted his fourth break point in the 11^th game with a drop-shot to take a 6-5 lead. He served out the second set with a hold at love. 

Mayot broke serve in the fourth game of the third set to take a 3-1 lead as Arnaldi hit a forehand into the net. Arnaldi saved a break point in the sixth game before breaking in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead after a double fault from Mayot. Arnaldi served out the win on his first match point. 

Fabio Fognini battled past Daniel Evans 6-4 3-6 6-2 after 2 hours and 32 minutes. Fognini earned the first break in the opening game. Evans broke straight back, but Fognini broke again in the third game with a smash to take a 2-1 lead. Evans converted her second break-back point in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3.  

Fognini converted his third break point in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead and sealed the first set on his second set point. 

Evans broke serve in the second game to take a 3-0 lead and held on his next service games to win the second set 6-3. 

Fognini saved three break points in the third game before breaking in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Evansbroke straight back in the fifth game for 2-3. Fognini broke twice in the sixth and eighth games to win the third set 6-2.  

Last year’s Next Gen Finals champion Hamad Medjedovic eased past Alexey Popyrin 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round. Medjedovic struggled in the early months of the 2024 season, but she came through the qualifying round to reach the second round in Madrid. Medjedovic won 88% of his first serve points. The Serbian player broke in the sixth game of the first set and twice in the first and seventh games of the second set. Medjedovic set up a second round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. 

Jack Draper beat Borna Coric 7-5 6-1 after 1 hour and 37 minutes. The British player won 92% of his first serve points and did not face a break point. Draper saved two break points in the fourth game and three more break points in the sixth game. Draper broke serve in the 12^th game to seal the first set 7-5. The British player broke twice in the second game to race out to a 4-0 lead and served out on his first match point. Draper set up a second round match against defending champion Danil Medvedev. 

Dominik Koepfer beat Andrea Vavassori 6-4 6-3. Jaume Munar edged Rinky Hijikata 6-4 7-5. Thiago Seybot Wild overcame French qualifier Gregoire Barrère 6-4 6-2.  

Iga Swiatek cruised into the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a 6-0 6-2 win over US qualifier Bernarda Pera in 1 hour and 17 minutes. 

Swiatek broke three times to take a bagel win in the first set in just half an hour. The world number 1 player converted her eighth break point in the fourth game of the second to take a 3-1 lead. She went up a double break at 30 in the sixth game to take a 5-1 lead. Pera saved two match points before pulling a break back in the seventh game for 2-5. Swiatek broke for the eighth time in the eighth game to close out the second set 6-2 after 78 minutes. 

Swiatek, who won two titles in Rome in 2021 and 2022, reached the third round for the fourth consecutive year. The Polish player suffered her only first round loss in Rome in her debut at this tournament in 2020. 

Swiatek is the match win leader on the WTA Tour with 31 wins. The world number 1 player has extended her record to 15-2 at the Rome WTA 1000 tournament. Only Chris Evert and Gabriela Sabatini in their first 17 matches at the Rome tournament. 

Swiatek set up a a third round match against Yulia Putintseva, who beat 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2. Swiatek leads 3-0 in her head-to-head matches against Putintseva. 

“At the end, I felt like Pera was playing like she has nothing to lose. I wanted to do my job and stick to my tactics. At the end I did that. Overall I am happy with the match. The conditions are totally different and the clay is different to Madrid. You have to adjust your game, the ball feels heavy. I needed two days on the practice court to do that. I had a great week in Madrid, overall this season has been really good. I am really happy to be here. I have great memories of this place and it’s great to be back”, said Swiatek.