It is a mark of an elite player to win, without playing well. Ninth seed David Goffin, who continues to shine on the ATP World Tour in 2017, did just that in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the experienced Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Although Goffin broke for a 2-0 lead, the Belgian then lost six of the next seven games against the 2010 Rome semi-finalist, before taking control for his 29th match win of an impressive season.
Goffin, runner-up in Sofia (l. to Dimitrov) and Rotterdam (l. to Tsonga) in February, will now await sixth seed Marin Cilic, who dropped only seven points on his first serve (28/35) to beat American Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-2. Cilic, who won his second clay-court title earlier this month at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (d. Raonic), also hit 10 aces in the 82-minute contest.
Pablo Cuevas, fresh off his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final run at last week’s Mutua Madrid Open, worked his way past qualifier Adrian Mannarino in a 6-4, 7-6(2) first-round win over one hour and 48 minutes. Cuevas, who saved set points when serving at 4-5 in the second set, will next challenge eighth seed Dominic Thiem on Wednesday – just five days on from their Madrid semi-final encounter.
David Ferrer added to his legacy mid-afternoon when he became just the 13th player in ATP World Tour history to record 700 match wins. The 35 year old and 2010 finalist overcame fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 56 minutes. Ferrer will now meet sixth seed Kei Nishikori, whom he lost to in Madrid last week.
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Americans Edge Del Potro/Matkowski
Americans Brian Baker and Nicholas Monroe fought back from a set and 4-5 deficit to knock out Juan Martin del Potro and Marcin Matkowski 3-6, 7-5, 10-5 in the first round. Baker and Monroe will now prepare for fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
Two Italian wild card teams fell at the first hurdle on day three. Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters titlists Rohan Bopanna and Cuevas swept past Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-2, while Nikola Mektic and Albert Ramos-Vinolas defeated Federico Gaio and Stefano Napolitano 7-6(3), 6-3.
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