Djokovic did not allow himself a surprise; Jabeur said goodbye early

No. 1 seeded Serbian racket Novak Djokovic, one of the favorite rackets in men’s singles, defeated his Argentine rival Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-0 in sets and advanced to the next round.

The tournament, which was held for the 80th time this year on the clay courts at the Foro Italico complex in the capital city of Rome, continued with second round competitions for men and women.

Serbian world No. 1 racket Novak Djokovic, who won the Rome Open last year and has 6 titles in total, faced his Argentine rival Tomas Martin Etcheverry today in the tournament that started from the second round. Struggling in the first set, Djokovic defeated his opponent Etcheverry 2-0 at 7-6(5) 6-2 sets and made a name for himself in the next round.

Fourth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud defeated French rival Arthur Rinderknech 2-0 6-4 6-0 in straight sets and advanced to the third round.

Seventh-seeded Dane Holger Dune defeated Frenchman Arthur Fils 2-0 at 6-3 in straight sets, to advance to the next round.

The eighth seed Jannik Sinner of Italy defeated his Australian opponent Thanasi Kokkinakis 2-0 in sets of 6-1 6-4 and made his mark in the third round.

JABEUR, LAST YEAR’S FINALIST IN SOLO FEMALE, HAS PASSED

World No. 1 in women and Rome Open champion for the last 2 years, Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated her Russian rival Anastasia Pavlychenkova 2-0 with 6-0 in straight sets and advanced to the 3rd round.

The surprise of the day in the women’s singles was experienced when the Tunisian Jabeur, who played in the final last year in this tournament, was eliminated in the 2nd round. The Tunisian Onza Jabeur, the fourth female seed, left the tournament early, losing to the Spanish racket Paula Badosa 2-0 with 6-1 and 6-4 sets. Badosa turned around.

Seventh seed Kazakh Elena Rybakina defeated Jasmine Paolini of the host country 2-0 with 7-6(4) and 6-1 sets and advanced to the next round.

Eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia defeated Italian Lisa Pigato 6-1 6-2 2-0 to advance to the next round. (AA)