The Italian Open progressed for the men, and main draw matches commenced for the women, with some interesting first round results.
Two matches were the highlights for me.
Philipp Kohlschreiber, aged 34, ranked 28, played Karen Khachanov, aged 21, ranked 36, and they battled each other for over three hours.
The opening set was evenly contested, with points won on first serve at a solid percentage for both players. Kohlschreiber was slightly better with winning points on second serve, and he broke serve twice. Khachanov broke serve just the once, and trailed 5-7.
Set two was even closer, with just one point separating the two, and a tie break required. Khachanov prevailed nine points to seven.
Set three also needed a tie break, as serve was held for all twelve games. Here, Germany emerged victorious with the veteran Kohlschreiber winning 7-5 6-7(7) 7-6(6)
The other match which intrigued me involved the 2010 Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone and the 2014 Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova.
Schiavone is 37 years old now, and ranked 271, but is enjoying some of her best tennis since dropping out of regular top level women’s competition.
A wildcard was given to her, and deservedly so.
Although Cibulkova took the first set easily, breaking the Italian serve three times for a 6-1 lead, Schiavone’s renowned fighting spirit came to the fore in set two.
The pair exchanged service breaks and a tie break was required. Schiavone won it 7 points to 5 and the match needed a third set.
Service was broken six times out of the eight games played, four of which were claimed by Cibulkova (who had ten chances).
The Slovakian won 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2, but needed over two and a half hours to progress to the second round.
Seeds to fall:
Magdalena Rybarikova (17) defeated by Johanna Konta 6-4 6-3
CoCo Vandeweghe (12) defeated by Anett Kontaveit 6-1 6-1
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