Monday 15 May 2017 22:36, UK
Britain's Aljaz Bedene will meet Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Rome Masters after a hard-fought victory over Italian wildcard Gianluca Mager, who was forced to retire injured.
Mager, ranked No 363, took the first set on a tiebreak before breaking Bedene's opening service game of the second set - only for the Brit to fight back and take the set 6-4.
Bedene, ranked No 55, came out on top after Mager was forced to retire in the third set from cramp, which had affected the Italian in the latter stages of the second set.
Fellow Brit Kyle Edmund defeated Portugal's Joao Sousa in straight sets. The 22-year-old needed just an hour and nine minutes to secure a 6-3, 6-4 victory over an opponent ranked two places above him in 51st.
Edmund produced an efficient performance, breaking once in each set while successfully defending three break points on his own serve. Edmund will meet the winner of the Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Martin Del Potro clash which will headline the evening session in Rome.
Nicolas Almagro secured an all-Spanish affair with the Madrid Masters champion Rafael Nadal after seeing off the challenge of home favourite Andreas Seppi 7-6, 6-3.
Juan Martin Del Potro turned back the clock to knock out 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov, 3-6 6-2 6-3 in a high-quality clash.
Elsewhere, there were victories for Czech Tomas Berdych, who overcame strong resistance from Germany's Mischa Zverev to set up a match with Argentina's Carlos Berlocq who defeated Robin Haase 6-3, 7-5 while David Goffin came back from behind to defeat Thomaz Bellucci in three sets.
World No 10 Goffin will meet Spain's Fernando Verdasco, who enjoyed a comfortable victory over America's Donald Young on Sunday.
The biggest surprise of the day came when big-serving Sam Querrey knocked out France's impressive Lucas Pouille, the world No 16, in two tight tiebreaks.
Australia's Bernard Tomic was the other major casualty of day two after losing in three sets to Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. Viktor Troicki of Serbia secured a straightforward victory over wildcard Stefano Napolitano.
Germany's Florian Mayer beat Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-2 to earn a second round clash with John Isner who overcame Albert Ramos yesterday.
For those on the move, we will have all the action from Rome and Roland Garros covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @skysportstennis for news, reports, live blogs and expert analysis, with updates on Sky Sports News HQ.
