Tallon Griekspoor came back from one set down to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6 6-3 6-0 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at the Foro Italico.
Griekspoor broke at love in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Kecmanovic earned two consecutive breaks in the fifth and seventh games to win the first set 6-4.
Griekspoor won 86% of his first serve points and earned his first break to win the second set 6-3.
Griekspoor earned an early break in the first game of the third set. Kecmanovic earned two break points in the second game, but he did not convert them. Griekspoor broke twice in the third and fifth games and served out the third set with a bagel on his first match point
Alexandre Muller came back from one set down to beat Jiri Lehecka 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in 2 hours and 38 minutes achieving the third win of his career against a top 40 player.
Lechecka converted his third break point in the first game of the opening set. The Czech player earned his second break in the third game and held his next service games to win the first set 6-2. Muller broke serve in the second game and held serve to open up a 3-0 lead. Lehechka broke back in the fifth game for 2-3. Muller won three of the next four games to clinch the second set 6-3. Both players traded breaks twice in the third set. Muller saved two match points on serve at 4-5 in the third set. Muller raced out to a 4-0 lead in the tie-break. Lehecka pulled both breaks back, but Muller won three of the final five points to clinch the tie-break 7-5.
The Frenchman came through the qualifying round to reach the fourth round in Rome last year. He advanced to the final in Rio de Janeiro and to the third round in Madrid this year. He has reached a career-high of world number 39.
Luciano Darderi beat Bu Yunchakoete Bu 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 after 1 hour and 50 minutes in the evening session.
The first set went on serve with no breaks of serve. Darderi had to save the only two breaks of serve in the third and eleventh games. Bu went up a 4-2 lead in the tie-break, but Darderi reeled off five consecutive games to win the tie-break 7-4.
Darderi earned the first break of the match in the first game of the second set. The Italian player held on his next service games and earned his second break in the ninth game to seal the second set 6-3 setting up a second round match against Jack Draper, who his first Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and reach the final in Madrid.
Jordan Thompson came back from one set down to beat Giovanni Mpetchi Perricard 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) reaching the second round in Rome for the second consecutive year. Thompson has extended his lead to 5-0 in his head-to-head matches against Mpetchi Perricard. Thompson set up a second round match against Brandon Nakashima.
Thompson earned an early break in the first game and held at love to take a 2-0 lead. Mpetchi Perricard broke twice in the fourth and ninth games to win the first set 6-3. Thompson broke in the sixth game to win the second set 6-3-
Mpetchi Perricard saved a break point in the first game of the third set. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Thompson went up a mini-break twice but Mpetchi Perricard pulled back on serve both times. Thompson sealed the tie-break 7-5 with a third mini-break.
Thompson suffered from a groin injury in Monte-Carlo and had to withdraw from Barcelona and Madrid.
