Rome Italy) – Jan-Lennard Struff’s good season on European clay gained another chapter this Thursday. After winning the Munich tournament and making the round of 16 in Monte Carlo and Madrid, the German debuted at the Masters 1000 in Rome with a victory over Argentine Pedro Cachin by double 6/4 in 1h17 of play.
Qualified for the second round of the tournament, he will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, sixth main favorite, and who also has good results on clay, with a title in Monte Carlo and a final in Barcelona. This will be the seventh duel between them on the circuit, with three victories for each side. On clay, there is also a 1-1 draw. Tsitsipas, however, also has a challenger victory, achieved in Genoa in the 2017 season.
Also on the rise in this European tour, Norwegian Casper Ruud faced his first challenge in the Italian capital. The 5th seed and current champion of Barcelona will face Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in his debut, who defeated North American qualifier Brandon Nakashima by 6/4 and 6/4. The record between them in the main ATP draws is tied at 2-2, but Ruud came out on top in the clashes held on clay, in the decision in Estoril in 2023 and in the second round in Madrid a few weeks ago. He also won the duel in the qualifiers of the Rome tournament in 2019.
Draper will challenge the current champion
Seeking to finally justify his status as a young promise on the world circuit, Jack Draper began his campaign with victory. Facing a stagnant Borna Coric, who hasn’t won two matches in a row since February, the British left-hander stood out and scored 7/5 and 6/1. Now, he will have the task of facing the current champion of the tournament, Russian Daniil Medvedev, whose physical conditions are unknown after withdrawing from the Madrid Open with groin muscle problems. The duel will be unprecedented.
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Medvedev’s compatriot and champion at Caixa Mágica last Sunday, Andrey Rublev will make his debut against the American Marcos Giron, who needed 2h27 to turn the game around against the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori, scoring the partials of 3/6, 6 /3 and 6/3. Rublev won the only previous match, on the indoor hard court in Rotterdam in 2021.
Meanwhile, Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena had Australian Christopher O’Connell withdraw after losing the first by 6/7 (7-9) and winning the second section by 5/0. He will now have another Australian ahead of him, the 9th seed Alex de Minaur, to whom he lost in the semifinals of the challenger in Alicante in 2018, on clay.
