Andy Murray suffered an early exit at the Rome Masters. The world number one was handed a loss by local player Fabio Fognini in the last men's singles match of the day. Italy's Fognini lost just six games on his way to defeating the Briton 6-2 6-4.
Fognini broke Murray's serve four times during the match and saved 4-of-5 of the Briton's break-point tries. It took just over an hour and a half for the clash to come to an end. The head-to-head record between the two now stands at 3-3. Three of those six matches were played on clay and the rest on hard -- clay court specialist Fognini has won every match on clay, and Murray has won every match on hard surfaces.
Fognini will be facing the winner of the match between promising Alexander Zverev and Serbia's Viktor Troicki in the last-16 stage.
Djokovic working his way back
12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has earned one more win as he hopes to get back to his winning form. The world number two outclassed Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain to reach the round-of-16 at the Rome Masters. Serb Djokovic made it past the qualifier in a two-set battle which lasted an hour and 45 minutes: 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.
Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta beat Gilles Simon on Tuesday, and his compatriot, Roberto Bautista Agut, had a good day in the office as well, defeating Aleksandr Dolgopolov. The two Spaniards will be going head-to-head in the second round in Rome on Wednesday.
The winner of that clash will be Djokovic's next opponent.
An easy win for Cilic
Sixth seed Marin Cilic had no issues in his first match at this year's edition of the Rome Masters. The 2014 US Open champion lost just five games to America's Ryan Harrison 6-3 6-2. Cilic, 28, took early breaks in both sets and eventually clinched the win in an hour and 22 minutes.
Cilic should have a tougher job in the next round as he is set to meet David Goffin next, the 10th-ranked player in the world. Goffin defeated Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday to progress in Rome.
Berdych wins routinely
Big-serving Tomas Berdych didn't let Carlos Berlocq get the better of him in the second-round matchup. The 31-year-old Czech dismissed qualifier Berlocq in straight sets 6-3 6-4. 12th-seed Berdych will have a day off on Wednesday. Next up for him will be either Canadian Milos Raonic or veteran Tommy Haas in the last-16 stage.
