British number one Kyle Edmund continued his fine run of form with a hard-earned round one win over Malek Jaziri at the Italian Open.

The world number 19 saved break points in his opening service game but beat the Tunisian 6-3 3-6 6-3.

Edmund moved inside the world’s top 20 for the first time on Monday after reaching the quarter-finals of last week’s Madrid Open.

He now faces either Lucas Pouille or Andreas Seppi in round two in Rome.

Edmund, 23, beat Novak Djokovic on his way to the quarter-final in Madrid and he continues to look most comfortable on clay.

But Jaziri, 34, was also in confident mood having reached the final of the Istanbul Open last month.

The world number 64 pressured the Briton in the first game but Edmund broke his rival to take a 4-2 lead and closed out the set.

Jaziri broke in the fourth game of the second set and went on to level but Edmund produced the solitary break of the decisive set.

Djokovic – now just one place above Edmund in the global rankings – overcame Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets earlier on Monday to also reach round two.