Stanislas Wawrinka quickly beat Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Italian Open on Wednesday after the start of the match was delayed 90 minutes due to rain.
At 38, Wawrinka is the oldest player in the main draw. However, he dominated Ivashka by slamming almost twice as many winning shots as him, including one when he had a match point. The Swiss at the same time concluded the meeting after just over an hour of play on Roman clay.
Wawrinka, holder of three Grand Slam titles, will face in the next round the 26e seeded Grigor Dimitrov. The winner of this clash could then cross swords with the favorite, Novak Djokovic, in the third round.
Djokovic, who received a second-round bye, will begin his Italian run against Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Argentinian ousted 18-year-old Frenchman Luca Van Assche — the youngest player in the world’s top 100, at 85e rank — by the score of 7-6 (7), 6-3.
Elsewhere, Márton Fucsovics beat Krajinović 6-4, 6-2, and Sebastián Báez beat Juan Pablo Varillas 7-5, 6-3.
Alexander Bublik and Cristian Garin also continued their journey in the Italian capital.
For his part, Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis led 4-2 in the first set against Jaume Munar when the Spaniard withdrew due to lower back pain.
Kokkinakis will face Italian Jannik Sinner in the next round.
Local favorite Fabio Fognini beat Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after nearly three hours, thanks in part to five breaks and seven aces.
Benefiting from an invitation by the organization, after a month of absence due to a foot injury, Fognini hit twice as many winning shots as Murray (49-24).
Murray had just won his first title in three years – a Challenger in the south of France, at the end of last week.
The Italian conceded just three points on serve in the final set.
On the women’s side, Lesia Tsurenko surprised two-time tournament champion Elina Svitolina in a duel between Ukrainians.
American Sloane Stephens knocked out Nadia Podoroska 6-4, 6-1 and will face No. 14 in the next round.e seeded Victoria Azarenka.