World number 14 Jack Sock is through to the second round of the Rome Masters after surviving a tough opening match at the tournament. The number 13 seed of the event was given a hard time by recent Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinalist Diego Schwartzman. The American eventually found a way to end on the winning side against the unseeded player from Argentina 6-4 1-6 7-5.
Sock recovered from a 3-1 third set deficit to set up a clash with Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. America's Sock converted five of his nine break point chances in two hours and nine minutes of action.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two at the ATP level.
Promising Zverev not done yet
Heavily talented Alexander Zverev has collected his second win in as many tries against qualifier Kevin Anderson. The 20-year-old outclassed the South African tennis player in a three-set battle on Tuesday at the Rome Masters 6-4 4-6 6-4.
Zverev saved Anderson's two break point chances at the beginning of the deciding set before breaking Anderson's serve in the fifth game. Zverev then held on to his serve routinely to close out the match which lasted two hours and 25 minutes. 16th-seeded Zverev is now set to face Serbian Viktor Troicki in the second round of Rome.
Always tricky Cuevas marches on
Pablo Cuevas, a well-known clay-court specialist, has also prolonged his campaign at this week's Rome Masters event.
The world number 23 didn't let qualifier Adrian Mannarino make any surprises on Tuesday at the Italian tournament. Uruguay's Cuevas handed a straight sets loss to the French tennis player 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
It took an hour and 48 minutes for the clash to come to an end. Cuevas won't be having an easy task in the following round as he will be facing 2016 Roland Garros semifinalist Dominic Thiem next.
It remains to be seen whether Cuevas, 31, can shock the Austrian world number seven tennis player.
An all-French clash
28-year-old French Benoit Paire prevailed over 35-year-old fellow compatriot Nicolas Mahut in their first ever ATP tour level matchup. World number 44 Paire out-gunned the four places ranked behind Mahut after losing just seven games 6-3 6-4.
Paire took the serve of Mahut four times in an hour and 12 minutes of the contest at the Rome Masters.
He will be fighting against three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in a second-round clash for the second straight week. Paire surprised Swiss Wawrinka last week at the Madrid Masters to reach the last-16 stage there. World number three Wawrinka will certainly be looking to avoid the same outcome against the French in back-to-back weeks.
