Garcia-Lopez, Thiem Advance In Rome

Dominic Thiem, the No. 13 seed and a winner of two ATP World Tour titles this season, will play Joao Sousa in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia after Thiem defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Monday. It was his 30th match win of the year. In 2015 he didn’t achieve the mark until the US Open first round in late August.

“I had a very good start to the season, and now its getting a little bit tougher,” said Thiem. “I didn’t play well over the past two weeks, but I had a good win today. I hope it’s a little bit of a turnaround again.”

Sousa, who is at a career-high No. 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, got the better of wild card Lorenzo Sonego 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5.

Thomaz Bellucci broke a three-match losing streak against Gael Monfils, the No. 14 seed, after a 6-3, 7-6(2) win. The World No. 37, who is making his sixth appearance in Rome, is 6-12 on the season and now faces Pablo Cuevas or Nicolas Mahut. Monfils’ best result at the tournament came on his 2006 debut when he advanced to the semi-finals (l. to Nadal).

Alexander Zverev, who is a part of the ATP’s Next Generation, knocked out Grigor Dimitrov, nine spots higher than him at No. 35 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 6-1, 6-4 in 69 minutes. Zverev hit 15 winners, including six aces on his tournament debut, while 2014 semi-finalist Dimitrov committed 20 unforced errors.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez notched his first win over Fabio Fognini in more than four years. Garcia-Lopez, who reached the third round in 2010 and 2015, silenced Italian supporters with a 6-1, 7-6(2) win.

Elsewhere, Ernests Gulbis improved his perfect record to 3-0 against Ivo Karlovic after withstanding 23 aces from the giant Croat in a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3 win in just under two hours.

Kohlschreiber/Troicki Save Four Match Points

In doubles action, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Viktor Troicki saved four match points against Henri Kontinen and John Peers for a 6-4, 1-6, 15-13 victory. Kohlschreiber and Troicki recovered from the brink of defeat at 7/9, 10/11 and 11/12 in the Match tie-break.