The shock kept its promises. Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas fought a great battle on Wednesday May 11 at the Masters 1000 in Rome. The Greek finally won in three tight sets. For his part, Rafael Nadal did not have time to tremble for his entry into the running. Same observation for the boss of women’s tennis, Iga Swiatek.
Stan Wawrinka won a second victory at the end of the effort, to offer himself a beautiful face-to-face against Novak Djokovic in the round of 16, while Jannik Sinner emerged victorious in the 100ù transalpine duel against Fabio Fognini.
Stefanos Tsitsipas narrowly, Schwartzman takes the door
Stefanos Tsitsipas got scared against Grigor Dimitrov. Winner in Monte-Carlo and semi-finalist in Madrid, the Greek came close to leaving against the Bulgarian in the last major tournament before Roland-Garros. The unfortunate finalist of the last French Open got away with the decisive game of the third set after saving two match points (6-3, 5-7, 7-6 [7-4]). The world No. 5 will face Karen Khachanov, scorer of Pablo Carreno Busta, in the third round. He thus continues his duel at a distance with one of the other favorites for the title in Paris, Carlos Alcaraz. they are the two men who have won the most games this season.
Most ATP Tour match wins in 2022
Tsitsipas – 28
Alcaraz – 28@Infosys | #infosysstats— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 11, 2022
For his part, Alexander Zverev had to be wary of his opponent of the day, another fit man, the formidable Argentinian Sebastian Baez. The great “Sascha” first battled before giving up in two sets (7-6, 6-3) the recent winner of the Estoril tournament. In the next round, Zverev will face Australian Alex De Minaur, winner of Tommy Paul in two sets (7-5, 6-4).
Diego Schwartzman, on the other hand, stops there. The Argentinian, seeded number 12, was ingloriously taken out by Marcos Giron, 60th player at the ATP (6-1, 7-6 [7-4]). Eliminated in qualifying then fished out after a package, the American climbed into the round of 16. He will face Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime.
“Rafa” unfolds opposite John Isner
Two small sets, 1h15 of play: here is Rafael Nadal qualified for the round of 16 of the Rome tournament. The Spaniard offered himself the scalp of John Isner (6-3, 6-1), reassuring himself a little after his defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. The clay court specialist will face Canadian Denis Shapovalov on Thursday, winner of Nikoloz Basilashvili.
El Rey walked on @Rafael Nadal – Isner 6-3 6-1#IBI22 | #tennis pic.twitter.com/LpUPgzd9gf
— Internazionali Bnl (@InteBNLdItalia) May 11, 2022
Winning comeback for Iga Swiatek
After three weeks of absence due to a shoulder injury, Iga Swiatek made her comeback with authority on Wednesday against the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse, 57th in the WTA. The world number 1 won without difficulty in two dry sets (6-3, 6-0).
The Pole thus garners her 24th consecutive victory, a first since Serena Williams in 2015 (between the 2014 WTA finals and Madrid 2015). In the next round, she will face Belarusian Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals.
24 – Iga Swiatek is the first player to win 24+ consecutive matches since Serena Williams in 2015 (between the 2014 WTA Finals and Madrid 2015). Ravaged. pic.twitter.com/lyQq22Y7rv
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) May 11, 2022
The beautiful story of Wawrinka continues
He continues on his way. After his fine first-round victory, more than a year after his last success, Stan Wawrinka overthrew Serbian Laslo Djere 7-6 [10], 3-6, 6-4. At the end of the effort, the Swiss managed to hold on to win after 2h47 of combat.
Things you LOVE to see
37 y/o @stanwawrinka becomes the lowest-ranked player in the Rome third round since No. 411 Corrado Borroni in 1995!#IBI22 pic.twitter.com/1xbpg0a9MM
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) May 11, 2022
At 37, Stan Wawrinka becomes the lowest ranked player (361st at the ATP) in the third round in Rome since the Italian Corrado Borroni (411th) in 1995. He will find the world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the eighth of final.
Surprise defeats for Kontaveit and Pliskova
On the women’s side of the table, the 5th player in the world, the Estonian Anett Kontaveit, was easily beaten (6-2, 6-3) by the Croatian Petra Martic (47th in the WTA ranking), who had reached the semi-finals in of the previous edition. Karolina Pliskova, number 6 in the WTA and finalist in Rome last year, also lost in three sets against a lower ranked player, the Swiss Jil Teichmann (29th).
Belarusian Anya Sabalenka (seed number 3) easily won (6-2, 6-0) against Chinese Shuai Zhang. She will face Jessica Pegula in the next round. Another American, Coco Gauff, opposed to Madison Brengle, also qualified in two sets and went to the round of 16.