Nishioka wins and catches Dimitrov, Italians overcome debut

Rome Italy) – Eighth favorite at the Masters 1000 in Rome, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov met his debut opponent in the competition this Wednesday. He will open his campaign against Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, who needed three sets to defeat Austrian Sebastian Ofner, with the final score of 6/3, 2/6 and 7/6 (7-4).

Dimitrov has already crossed paths with Nishioka on two other occasions on the circuit, the last of which was also at Foro Itálico, in 2020, winning with just one game conceded. He also beat the Japanese left-hander on the hard court of the ATP in Brisbane in 2019.

His first opponent in the competition was also defined as the Russian Karen Khachanov, 16th highest ranked for the title. He will face Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko in the second round, who beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan with scores of 6/3 and 6/2. Shevchenko beat Khachanov the only time they met, last year in Metz.

Italians start well in Rome

The first two home tennis players who entered the court in the main draw of the tournament took advantage of the home advantage. Highlight for Luciano Darderi, who showed strength by overcoming Canadian Denis Shapovalov, 6/7 (4-7), 6/3 and 7/6 (7-4). He will face Argentine Mariano Navone, 28th pre-classified.

Italian Flavio Cobolli’s debut was calmer, spending just 76 minutes to defeat German Maximilian Marterer in straight sets, with the final score of 6/4 and 6/2. In the second round, he will face the North American Sebastian Korda, seed 24.

Shelton and Bublik meet rivals

Wednesday also saw the definition of debut rivals for Ben Shelton and Alexander Bublik. The North American, 12th highest ranked, will open his campaign against the Russian Pavel Kotov, who beat fellow North American Alex Michelsen in the first round in straight sets, giving up just two games to his rival in the victory with a score of double 6/ 1, noted after 1h21 of play.

Seeded 15th, Kazakh Bublik will play his first game at the Foro Itálico against Portuguese Nuno Borges, who showed resilience to defeat Spaniard Pedro Martinez in an upset, saving two match-points before closing the game with partials of 6/7 ( 3-7), 6/4 and 7/6 (10-8), in a long confrontation lasting 3h38.