Alexander Blockx maintains form, wins Rome opener in 3 sets

After his run to the semifinals last week in Madrid, Belgian up-and-comer Alexander Blockx had to sweat out a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win against Italian Federico Cina for his opening match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Thursday in Rome.

Blockx, 21, had the best showing at an ATP Masters 1000 event of his young career when he took down top-10 opponent Felix Auger-Aliassime on his way to the Madrid semis.

But he found himself a set down after losing two of the three break points he faced in the opening frame against Cina, ranked 225th in the world. Blockx recovered by storming through the second set, and he finished with 12 aces while winning 39 of his 47 first-service points (83.0%).

"It was really, really tough. I've been playing at altitude for the past two weeks, in Munich and Madrid, so it went a bit faster there than here," Blockx said post-match. "I felt like my positioning on the court was still like I was playing at altitude in the first set. That made it difficult for me, and I felt like I was giving him too much time to do his thing.

"Then in the second set, I just stepped in two steps closer, and then I felt like the match flipped over. In the third set, at the beginning it was a bit tight for both of us, and then once I saved a break point at 2-2, I felt like it really went my way. I served it out well."

Blockx also committed just 20 unforced errors to Cina's 34 and moved on to face No. 29 seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, one of 32 seeded players to receive first-round byes.

Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic stood out as he defeated Greek stalwart Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6 (4). Machac absorbed eight aces from Tsitsipas by being even sharper on his own serve, where he won an astounding 42 of 46 first-service points (91.3%).

"I was playing really great from the start of the match," Machac said. "You have to play aggressively against Stefanos. I was trying to play my game and served very well and I am happy with my performance today."

In the longest match of the day, Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz outlasted Ethan Quinn 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in two and a half hours.

Two Italians moved on to the second round. Mattia Bellucci defeated Argentina's Roman Andres Burruchaga 6-4, 6-4, and in an all-Italian clash, qualifier Andrea Pellegrino rallied past wild card Luca Nardi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Other first-round winners included Frenchmen Terence Atmane and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Miomir Kecmanovic and Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia, Marin Cilic and Dino Prizmic of Croatia, Argentina's Mariano Navone and Thiago Agustin Tirante, Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, Ignacio Buse of Peru, Cristian Garin of Chile, Austria's Sebastian Ofner and Australia's Alexei Popyrin.

--Field Level Media