First day of Rome Masters 1000, and first surprises. Two seeds, Karen Khachanov (11th) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (16th), They have said goodbye to the Italian tournament at the first exchange, being the main news of the day on Monday, in which the main stars of the table did not participate, who will appear in the second round.
Russian Khachanov remains headless after his early elimination in the US Open third round. In this case, it was the Norwegian Casper Ruud, 21, his executioner 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in just over two hours of play. It is Khachanov's second first-round elimination from Rome in three starts. The key to the confrontation was in the break opportunities: Ruud had 17, for only 3 that Khachanov had. It is the second time that the Norwegian has passed the first round in a Masters 1000 (the first was also in Rome, where he reached the third round last year), and will cross the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who beat Basilashvili by a clear 6-3 and 6-1.
Another surprising elimination was that of the young Felix Auger-Aliassime, who falls for the second consecutive year in the first round in Rome. The Canadian was surpassed by the Serbian Filip Krajinovic, who is making a good return to the competition, by 6-4 and 7-5. Auger-Aliassime, who has just been eliminated in the round of 16 of the US Open by champion Dominic Thiem, was Novak Djokovic's potential opponent in the third round of this Masters 1000 of Rome. Krajinovic is already waiting for the winner of the Edmund-Cecchinato, which will be played this Tuesday.
In one of the most attractive matches on Monday, Borna Coric, the Croatian who eliminated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open and number 26, took the Chilean Cristian Garín (14th seed) by 6-4, 6-4 on the fast track. Garín continues to suffer since the return of tennis, with a victory in four games played, and Coric confirms his good form. The rest of the day on Monday passed without major shocks. Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who is on Nadal's side and semifinalist in Rome in 2014, decisively beat guest player Gianluca Mager by 7-5 and 6-1 in an hour and a quarter. The croatian Marin Cilic, also a semifinalist at the Foro Italico in 2018, suffered a little more against the Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who has not yet won since the restart of the tournaments, to which he traced back for a final result of 6-7 (4), 6-2 and 6-4, and will face the Belgian in the second round David goffin. Finally, the French Ugo Humbert eliminated Kevin Anderson 6-3, 7-6 (5), and Fabio Fognini is already waiting in the second round. Benoit Paire, who recently harshly criticized the tournament organization, was eliminated by the Italian Jannik Sinner 6-2 and 6-1, while another guest local player, Stefano Travaglia, surprised Taylor Fritz with a 6-4 and 7-6 (4). Daniel Evans could not in an even match with Hubert Hurkacz, who won by 6-3, 3-6 and 7-5.