Rafa Nadal already knows who his rival will be in his debut at the Masters 1,000 in Rome. The Spanish tennis player will face the American John Isner, who in his first round match defeated the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo 6-4 and 6-3 after an hour and a half of play.
Isner showed off his fame as a slugger after placing 13 aces on Cerúndolo in addition to defending his serve tooth and nail after saving 7 of the eight break balls that he had to face.
It will be the ninth time that Nadal and Isner face each other on the ATP circuit in a balance in which Nadal leads by 7 wins and only one loss at the 2017 Laver Cup.
Norrie, Dimitrov and Báez advance to the second round
Cameron Norrie, ninth favorite, got through the first round after beating the young Italian cyclist Luca Nardi, invited by the organization by a double 6-4. Norrie asserted his strength on serve (87% of points won with the first) and his defense by saving the four break balls he faced to seal his ticket to the second round, where he will now face Croatian Marin Cilic.
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov also reached the second round, beating American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4., and now he will have to face a tough rival like the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, fourth favorite for the title. The Argentine will also be in the next round Sebastián Báez, who defeated Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in three sets 6-3, 6-7 (7) and 6-2to meet another of the ‘coconuts’ of the tournament, the German Alexander Zverev, second favorite of the tournament.
