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After reaching his first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 final last month in Monte-Carlo and suffering an early exit in Madrid, Holger Rune made a fast start in his debut at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Arthur Fils.

In a battle of #NextGenATP stars, the 20-year-old Rune dominated on return, converting on four of 12 break points in the victory.

"He made it tough. He's young, younger than me. It feels kind of crazy because I think this is the second time in my life I'm playing someone that's younger," said Rune, who improved to 2-1 against younger opponents on the ATP Tour, having split two previous matches against Carlos Alcaraz. "For sure he's in the right direction and I wish him all the best. He's a nice guy."

Rune reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of World No. 7 after reaching the Monte-Carlo final and has maintained his position since then, aided by a successful title defence in Munich. With no points to defend in Rome, he could rise as high as No. 4 by winning his second Masters 1000 title after his 2022 Rolex Paris Masters triumph.

Fils, 18, was the youngest player in the Rome draw. After reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final in Montpellier in February and earning his first ATP Masters 1000 win on Wednesday against fellow qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the Frenchman was denied his first Top 10 win with defeat to Rune. The Dane's victory extended his winning streak against French opponents to 13 matches, dating back to 2022.

The rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic has played out at the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this season, with the pair jockeying for World No. 1 throughout 2023. The 20-year-old Alcaraz began the year at the pinnacle of the men's game and has since traded the top spot with Djokovic, with each man enjoying two separate stints as No. 1. 

Alcaraz will reclaim the honour from the Serbian in the next edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by simply taking the court on Saturday for his Internazionali BNL d'Italia debut against fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. But after months of back-and-forth drama, Alcaraz and Djokovic could meet on the court for the first time this year during the Rome ATP Masters 1000.

"Being in the same tournament with Novak is great, having him here and learning from him," Alcaraz said, after injuries for both men prevented them from being in the same draw previously this season. "It's always good having the best tennis players in the world in the tournament. It's great. I hope to meet him in the final.

"I always say that as a tennis fan, I always want to see the best players in the world, to watch them, learn from them, because you have to learn from everyone. It's great to share the tournament [with him]."

If the top two seeds meet in the Rome final, it would be their second ATP Head2Head meeting. Alcaraz won a thrilling 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) semi-final last year in Madrid on the way to completing a Spanish trophy double across Barcelona and the nation's capital — a feat he repeated this season.

While the tennis world is eager to see the pair develop a rivalry on the court, Alcaraz said his biggest rival is himself.

When Carlos Alcaraz plays the first point of his match on Saturday against Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the 20-year-old Spaniard will clinch his return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Novak Djokovic arrived in Rome with a five-point lead over Alcaraz. However, Djokovic is the defending champion and will drop 1,000 points on 22 May. Alcaraz is not defending any points, and he will earn 10 by beginning his opening match in the Italian capital. That has already put him atop the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Alcaraz will therefore begin his 23rd week at World No. 1 on 22 May. The Spaniard has a big opportunity to leave Rome with a sizable lead. If the 20-year-old wins the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, he will depart Italy with at least a 1,395-point advantage over Djokovic.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings (entering Rome)

Djokovic can keep the battle close if he wins his seventh Rome title. The Serbian can finish the tournament with 6,775 points, which would keep him within 595 points of Alcaraz if the Spaniard reaches the final.

Cameron Norrie wasted little time kick-starting his Internazionali BNL d'Italia campaign on Friday morning in Rome.

The World No. 13 required just 74 minutes to down Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-3 for a confidence-boosting second-round win at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Norrie entered the match with a modest 2-3 record on the European clay so far this year but the Briton fired 20 winners and converted three of his seven break points to overcome the No. 100-ranked Muller.

The 27-year-old Norrie, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz to lift his fifth ATP tour title in Rio de Janeiro in February, now takes on Marton Fucsovics as he bids for back-to-back main-draw victories in the Italian capital for the first time in four attempts.

Fucsovics will be looking to upset a seeded opponent for the second straight match after he took out 17th seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4. Norrie leads the Hungarian 4-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series, including two wins on clay.

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Portugal’s Nuno Borges has enjoyed some rise in recent years. After clinching his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in 2021, the 26-year-old cracked the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in 2022.

On Thursday, the 26-year-old broke new ground again when he overcame Dusan Lajovic to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 match win at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

“I never imagined that I would be playing at tournaments like these even a few years ago. I am living the dream as a player,” Borges told ATPTour.com. “Rome is one of those tournaments you go and watch on TV, so to be here playing it's really special. I have only started playing these big tournaments recently, so every match is like a final. Playing here on the big stage is incredible, I am just taking it all in.”

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Borges took his first steps into tennis aged six at his local club in Maia. While he had a number of different coaches, the World No. 88’s father, Paolo, was a constant pillar of support.

Jannik Sinner gave a lesson in handling home pressure on Friday in Rome, where the highest-ranked Italian in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings made a lightning-fast start to his 2023 Internazionali BNL d'Italia campaign.

Sinner breezed past the dangerous Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event. A near-complete performance from the World No. 8 featured precise serving, fierce baseline hitting and high-class net play, and he wrapped victory in 79-minutes at the Foro Italico to improve to 13-3 at Masters 1000 level for the year.

“I’m happy about my level today,” said Sinner, who did not face a break point and converted three of five of his own against Kokkinakis. “It was not easy. It was a little bit breezy, a little bit windy and I think he especially in the second set served a little bit better. I also had a couple of chances then which I didn’t use, but I’m very happy about my serve, I felt the ball very well.”

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Sinner arrived in Rome having reached the championship match in Miami either side of semi-final runs in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo, a sequence of Masters 1000 performances that have lifted the 21-year-old to fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The Italian feels ready to impress at home as he seeks another deep run to boost his early Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.

Playing his first match as a Top 100 player, Italy's Matteo Arnaldi made the most of the occasion with a victory against Diego Schwartzman on Thursday night at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Playing in front of his home fans in Rome, the 22-year-old wild card scored a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory to close the day's play on centre court.

Arnaldi rose to No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings behind his third-round run in Madrid, where he upset World No. 4 Casper Ruud. After beating 2020 Rome finalist Schwartzman, he will bid for his second Top 20 win against 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the second round at the ATP Masters 1000.

[ATP APP]

After a dominant opening set, Arnaldi miseed two chances for an early break in the second as Schwartzman found his footing on the Italian clay. The Argentine secured the first break of set two to force a decider, but the flash point of the middle set came in a thrilling cat-and-mouse point that included a well-placed tweener from Arnaldi. The wild card had a chance to cap off the all-action point with a bunted passing shot, but he pushed it just long, still drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.

Even Schwartzman seemed mildly disappointed the show-stopping point did not end with a winner, with the Argentine grimacing as he confirmed to his opponent that the ball was out before flashing a smile and joining in on the applause.

The seeded players spring into action on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where defending champion Novak Djokovic and home favourite Jannik Sinner are among those seeking a fast start in Rome.

Djokovic begins his bid for a seventh title at the Foro Italico against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while the eighth-seeded Sinner faces the big-hitting Thanasi Kokkinakis. A #NextGenATP clash between Holger Rune and Arthur Fils is another standout second-round clash in the top half of the draw at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000.

ATPTour.com looks ahead to some of the intriguing matchups on the Friday schedule in Rome.

[ATP APP]

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG)

Taking down Djokovic in the early rounds in Rome is a task that no one has yet managed. The World No. 1 may have suffered early losses in both clay-court events he has played this year (he went 2-2 across Monte-Carlo and Banja Luka), but the Serbian has never failed to reach the quarter-finals in 16 appearances in the Italian capital.

The longest tennis match in recorded history took place at the Wimbledon Championships in 2010 between John Isner of the United States and Nicolas Mahut of France. The match started on June 22, 2010, and concluded on June 24, 2010, lasting for a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes of play spread over three days. The match was a first-round Men's Single...

Novak Djokovic on Thursday quelled any concerns about his physical status leading into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The Serbian star missed the Mutua Madrid Open and lost early at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Srpska Open, but is excited to start his tournament in Rome, where he has won the title six times.

“It’s all good. It's all good. I mean, there [are] always some things here and there that bother you on this level. It's normal. Also when you're not 25 anymore, I guess you experience that a bit more than what used to be the case. It takes a little bit more time I guess to recover,” Djokovic said. “But I feel good. I miss competition. I love playing in Rome. Historically throughout my career, Rome has always been a very nice tournament for me, had plenty of success, won it many times. Played also quite a few times in [the] final.”

Djokovic admitted that it takes more time for him to get used to clay than other surfaces. The 35-year-old explained that there are multiple factors that go into that.

“It's the movement. Every bounce more or less is different. It's such an irregular-bounce surface. You have wind. You have clay, a surface that is alive basically. Let's call it this way. Like grass in a way,” Djokovic said. “On clay, if you have a windy day, wind takes out the top layer of the surface, and it affects the bounce, it affects the spin of the ball, the speed of the court. Of course, if it rains or something like this, the conditions are different every single day, then it affects whether the clay is softer or harder.

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.

Not being too frustrated in defeat or getting too carried away after wins has been Argentine player Tomas Martin Etcheverry’s main goal recently on the ATP Tour. But that search for balance in his career has required a lot of discipline, and above all, time. When he was nine years old, after losing in the semi-finals of a junior tournament in Carilo, a few hours by car from his home in La Plata, he cried so much that his parents regretted ever having introduced him to the game of tennis.

“I remember that match. I was very young and I liked the trophy. It had coloured and golden things on it. I wanted to win and have it in my room, whatever the cost. But I lost and I cried all the way back home,” Etcheverry recalled in an interview with ATPTour.com. “We all have things from the past we’d like to change. But it’s also part of the process.”

One thing that never needed addressing was his attitude on court. Apart from being committed and respectful to his opponents, he was always aware that he should not take his failure out on his racquet. “I’ve never broken or hit a racquet in my life. My teachers instilled that in me. And I feel like it’s not the racquet’s fault. Also, I was always really relaxed. I wasn’t one to go looking for trouble,” adds the 23-year-old right-hander, who stands at 6-foot-5. What did need work was his reaction after a defeat, as was the case in Carilo.

[ATP APP]

Jannik Sinner is excited to compete on home soil this week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Not only will the Italian pursue his first ATP Masters 1000 title, but he will have a chance to solidify his standing in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Sinner leads a group of players who are trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 12-19 November, for the first time. Two years ago Sinner competed in the season finale as an alternate when Matteo Berrettini withdrew due to injury, but now the 21-year-old is in good position to qualify straight in.

With a 26-6 record this season, Sinner sits fifth in the Live Race with 2,195 points, just 380 points behind third-placed Novak Djokovic. The Italian has a big opportunity to consolidate his standing with 1,000 points up for grabs in Rome and another 2,000 at Roland Garros.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (entering Rome)

Sinner has reached at least the semi-finals at all three Masters 1000 events he has competed in this season (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo). He is in the same quarter of the draw as fourth seed Casper Ruud.

Emil Ruusuvuori came back from the brink twice in quick succession to claim a remarkable first-round victory on Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

The Finn saved two match points before overcoming Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6) at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. Despite Humbert serving on both occasions, Ruusuvuori fended off the first at 4-5, 40/30 in the third set before repeating his escape when trailing the Frenchman 5/6 in the deciding tie-break.

Ruusuvuori ultimately closed out a thrilling three-hour triumph, in which both players broke their opponent’s serve five times, to book a second-round appointment against third seed Daniil Medvedev. The World No. 43 is now 15-12 for the season, a tally which includes reaching his maiden Masters 1000 quarter-final in Miami in March.

It was a third consecutive narrow victory for the Finn in his ATP Head2Head series with Humbert, who himself triumphed in a pair of marathon three-setters en route to the ATP Challenger Tour 175 title in Cagliari last week. Ruusuvuori triumphed in five sets in the duo’s maiden tour-level meeting at Roland Garros in 2022, before prevailing in a pair of tie-breaks against the Frenchman in Madrid just 15 days ago.

[ATP APP]

David Goffin needed all of his experience to outlast #NextGenATP Italian Luca Nardi on Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where the Belgian escaped a precarious position to book his spot in the second round at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000.

The two-time quarter-finalist Goffin prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to face 2017 champion Alexander Zverev in the Italian capital. Although he trailed the 19-year-old home favourite Nardi 3-6, 2-4, Goffin converted four of his five break points across the second and third sets to seal a two-hour, 22-minute triumph at the Foro Italico.

“I was a little bit tight at the beginning of the match and he was playing well,” reflected Goffin. “He didn’t leave me any [chances] in the first set and at the beginning of the second. It was a few points that made the difference, because he had the break, and I was really close to coming back in some long games."

The former World No. 7 Goffin dropped out of the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since July 2014 on Monday after struggling for consistency and with his fitness this year. The 32-year-old was pleased with the way he had dug deep to earn his first Masters 1000 victory of 2023.

“If it would have been [6-3, 6-4] for him, it would have been, ‘OK, congrats’, but I had to fight and I won a few important points in the second to turn it around,” said Goffin. “After that I started to play even better and he was a little bit mentally down. I started to play more in the third, so I’m very happy I managed to win this one.”

Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev competing in a Match Tie-break has only produced one outcome these past two weeks on the European clay.

So it was again on Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where the unseeded duo took down two-time champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 4-6, 7-5, 10/7 in their first-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.

[ATP APP]

Khachanov and Rublev clinched four of their five matches in Match Tie-breaks en route to their maiden Masters 1000 title last week at the Mutua Madrid Open, and the pair excelled when facing the now-familiar situation again against Cabal and Farah. The singles stars never fell behind in the decider as they wrapped a one-hour, 42-minute triumph at the Foro Italico.

Now 8-3 as a team for the 2023 season, long-time friends Khachanov and Rublev will take on fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer or Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the second round as they chase back-to-back Masters 1000 crowns.

Italian Fabio Fognini earned his biggest win of the season Wednesday evening when he defeated Scot Andy Murray at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

It has been a struggle to begin 2023 for the former Top 10 star, who arrived at the Foro Italico with a 2-8 tour-level record. But the wild card thrilled the Rome crowd with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory to reach the second round after two hours and 54 minutes.

The veterans entered the match having split their first eight ATP Head2Head clashes. This was their first meeting since 2019 in Shanghai, where Fognini won a final-set tie-break. They played at the Foro Italico in 2017, when Murray was the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Fognini emerged victorious in straight sets on that occasion.

[ATP APP]

The Rome ATP Masters 1000 event has not always been Fognini’s best tournament (14-15 record), but he has often found magic on home soil against Murray, whom he has defeated in all three of their showdowns in Italy.

“I can’t go anywhere without my pizza, you can count on that!”

There is no second guessing what Alex de Minaur’s favourite food is. The 24-year-old even enjoys a pepperoni pizza alongside pasta on a match day, he revealed to ATP Uncovered in the newest edition of the ‘What I Eat’ series.

“Pizza is the secret to the speed!” De Minaur said. “Big pepperoni pizza for me, I just like meat too much.”

[ATP APP]

The Australian also shared what foods he indulges in on those beloved ‘cheat days’, when De Minaur does not mind racking up calories.

Stan Wawrinka is up and running at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

Making his 18th appearance in Rome, the former World No. 3 moved past Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday at the ATP Masters 1000 event to reach the second round for the 13th time.

The 38-year-old was in control throughout the 78-minute clash on Center Court. The Swiss took large cuts at the ball off both wings to strike 26 winners and saved the one break point he faced to earn his 12th tour-level win of the season.

"I was ready for it. I am playing well. It was a good first match and I am really happy to get through again," Wawrinka said. "I have been working hard to get to this level. This year I am playing much better, but I need to win more matches. That is what I am missing a bit, the confidence to win more matches. But in general the level is great."

[ATP APP]