Raonic To Face Kyrgios In Rome Second Round

Tenth seed Milos Raonic saved nine of 11 break point opportunities to beat Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 9 minutes for a place in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia second round. Raonic also beat the Italian wild card at last month’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

“I thought he played better today [than in Monte-Carlo],” said Raonic. “The conditions were a little bit difficult. I should have been a little bit more disciplined with myself in certain scenarios, but I’m happy to win and give myself an opportunity to play better in my next round.”

Raonic goes onto face Nick Kyrgios, who recorded his first win at the Foro Italico, with 10 aces in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over wild card Salvatore Caruso in 61 minutes.

“I’m confident going forward, but at the same time Raonic’s got one of the best serves in the world,” said Kyrgios. “If he’s having a lights-out day when he does everything, you can’t really do too much. I’m going to go out there and do what I have been doing and just compete. If I happen to win, I win.”

Looking ahead to the Kyrgios clash, Raonic said, “He has a lot of firepower. He can do a lot of different things. It’s about sort of getting ahead in the points before he does, because that’s where I’d say both of our games excel at is that aggressive tennis. It’s about who can take control of the points first.”

Richard Gasquet, the No. 11 seed and 2011 semi-finalist, got the better of Julien Benneteau for the fourth time in a 6-3, 6-0 win over 74 minutes. He will next face Andreas Seppi, who edged Vasek Pospisil 7-6(5), 7-6(2).

Elsewhere, Jack Sock will challenge No. 12 seed David Goffin after beating Guido Pella 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 40 minutes.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an adductor injury. “I just stretched my adductor this morning,” explained the Frenchman. “I was sick when I left Madrid for two days, and I came here and I tried to play a little bit to see how it goes, and this morning I just stretched a little bit my adductor. So I will take rest and recover for the next step. I hope it’s going to be all right.”