Madrid (Spain) – Upon entering the court this Thursday to make his debut at the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Frenchman Richard Gasquet reached the important milestone of 1,000 games on the ATP circuit. However, the ending was not happy for the 37-year-old veteran, who ended up defeated by the Italian Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets, with partials of 6/2 and 7/5.
Gasquet joined a select list of active players, becoming only the fourth to reach the 1,000 appearances mark. He joined a select group that includes Serbian Novak Djokovic (1,315), Spaniard Rafael Nadal (1,291) and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (1,006). In June last year, Gasquet celebrated his 600th victory.
After frustrating the experienced Frenchman’s day of celebration, Sonego will face compatriot Jannik Sinner, number 1 seed in the tournament, who will debut directly in the second round. It will be the fifth time that the two Italians have met on the circuit and the current ATP runner-up has won the previous four, losing just one set.
Another Italian who qualified for the second round was Flavio Cobolli, who defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, scoring a final score of 5/7, 6/4 and 6/4. He will have another Chilean as his opponent in the next phase, facing the 22nd pre-classified Nicolas Jerry in the fight for a place in the round of 16 on the Madrid clay court.
Medvedev and Ruud meet their rivals
Third highest rated for the title, Russian Daniil Medvedev saw the definition of his debut opponent in Madrid. He will open his campaign against another of the Italians on the circuit, facing the current 36th in the world Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated the Australian Christopher O’Connell in straight sets, with partials of 6/4 and 6/1.
It will be the third time that Medvedev and Arnaldi will face off, the previous two clashes being last year. The Russian came out on top in both, beating the Italian in Dubai and then in Toronto. It will be the first time they measure strength on clay.
Coming off the title in Barcelona and runner-up in Monte Carlo, Norwegian Casper Ruud also met his first opponent. The fifth favorite in the tournament will debut against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who defeated Chinese Zhizhen Zhang with a final score of 6/3 and 6/2. Ruud tries to level the record, as he has one win and two losses against his next rival.
