Novak Djokovic wins the match in Rome, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets. 7-6 6-2 is the result that allows the number one seed to access the third round of the title of which he is the holder.
The Slam champion’s match does not start in the best way, starting by undergoing a cold break, in the first round of service after a not entirely unexpected 30-40. The tennis player from Belgrade has to find the best condition, the pace of the game, the sensations on the pitch: he doesn’t always manage to find all of this during the first half.
He tries to vary, he uses the serve and volley to avoid long rallies, he tries down the line not always well with positive results. However, taking advantage of a few too many mistakes by the Argentine, he manages to recover the break in the sixth game.
Recovery is the last thing before a new phase of the game, dictated by balance, which leads in a somewhat obvious way to the tiebreak. A tiebreak reflecting what the set was: the Serbian was immediately behind by a minibreak, who also in this situation was forced to put on a comeback, obtained above all thanks to the answer.
The second set is another story. The start by the world number one is one that shows that he wants to accelerate and wants to close sets and matches. In fact, he gets the break right away, but Etcheverry doesn’t give up and at times manages to stage an excellent defense.
But Djokovic, as he usually does in the early rounds of a tournament, knows when to step up and change pace. He does it in the middle of the second set, when he is aware that just one break doesn’t guarantee him total safety.
The answer ended between the Argentine’s feet on the break point allows the Serbian to go and serve, earlier than expected, for the match, where he doesn’t miss, thus closing the match. In the third round, Djokovic will face Grigor Dimitrov, as in the third round of the Australian Open.
The Bulgarian tennis player won the challenge between one-handed backhands against Stan Wawrinka: 6-4 7-6 in favor of the top seed after just over an hour and a half of the match.
There were no problems at the debut at this edition of the Internazionali d’Italia for Jannik Sinner. The blue tennis player won the first match, in the second round, beating the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis: 6-1, 6-4 was the final result.
Winners also Holger Rune and Casper Ruud.
Below the day 3 highlights: