Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev started with a slight victory in the sandplace tournament in Rome.
The defending champion won his opening match against the Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-2 and 6: 1. After just 66 minutes of play, number 2 in the world used his first match ball to win in the presence of ex-football national player Mats Hummels.
The opponent in the next round is the Lithuanian Vilius Gaubas. The qualifying had previously surprisingly prevailed against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, which was set to number 27.
The Masters 1000 tournament, endowed with a good eight million euros, is used to prepare for the French Open in Paris, which begin on May 25th. Eva Lys has already left the women’s tournament in the parallel women’s tournament. The 23-year-old lost to Jelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan 6: 7 (3: 7) and 2: 6.