Andrey Rublev found a way past Jan-Lennard Struff on Wednesday for a place in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
The seventh-seeded Russian bounced back from squandering two set points in the first set to break Struff, this year’s BMW Open runner-up, 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes on Court 4.
World No. 7 Rublev, who lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the second round on his Rome debut last year, is now 28-7 on the season, which includes his eighth ATP Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The 23-year-old, who has also reached the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals (l. to Hurkacz) and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Tsitsipas) this year, will now challenge No. 10 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in Rome.
Rublev, who had beaten Struff in three sets at the ATP Cup in February, led 6/4 in the first set tie-break, but struck two backhand winners. Struff closed out the 60-minute opener with an ace, but Rublev responded.
In tightening up his return game, Rublev put Struff under pressure on serve and the German’s error count started to rise, with breaks of serve in the third and sixth games of the second set, which lasted just 27 minutes. Rublev struck a forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead in the decider that ended with the Russian saving three break points in an 18-point game.
[WATCH LIVE 1]
Bautista Agut, this season’s runner-up at the Open Sud de France (l. to Goffin) and Qatar ExxonMobil Open (l. to Basilashvili), wore down Cristian Garin 7-6(5), 6-3 in just over two hours. The first set lasted 72 minutes.
The seventh-seeded Russian bounced back from squandering two set points in the first set to break Struff, this year’s BMW Open runner-up, 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes on Court 4.
World No. 7 Rublev, who lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the second round on his Rome debut last year, is now 28-7 on the season, which includes his eighth ATP Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The 23-year-old, who has also reached the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals (l. to Hurkacz) and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Tsitsipas) this year, will now challenge No. 10 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in Rome.
Rublev, who had beaten Struff in three sets at the ATP Cup in February, led 6/4 in the first set tie-break, but struck two backhand winners. Struff closed out the 60-minute opener with an ace, but Rublev responded.
In tightening up his return game, Rublev put Struff under pressure on serve and the German’s error count started to rise, with breaks of serve in the third and sixth games of the second set, which lasted just 27 minutes. Rublev struck a forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead in the decider that ended with the Russian saving three break points in an 18-point game.
[WATCH LIVE 1]
Bautista Agut, this season’s runner-up at the Open Sud de France (l. to Goffin) and Qatar ExxonMobil Open (l. to Basilashvili), wore down Cristian Garin 7-6(5), 6-3 in just over two hours. The first set lasted 72 minutes.