Novak Djokovic is no longer the world No.1 after rival Carlos Alcaraz took the top spot in the men's rankings just two weeks before the start of the French Open.
20-year-old star Alcaraz cruised to a 6-4 6-1 victory over fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas to get his Italian Open campaign off to a winning start. Just by stepping on court in Rome, Alcaraz guaranteed taking the title of world No.1 from Serbian legend Djokovic following the ATP Masters 1000 event.
As for Djokovic, who last month pulled out of the Madrid Open due to injury, he twice had to recover from deficits during a tight first set to beat 61st-ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Aiming for a seventh title on the red clay of the Foro Italico as he prepares for the French Open, the 35-year-old icon recorded a testing 7-6 (5) 6-2 opening win on Friday.
Djokovic was returning after three weeks out because a lingering issue with his surgically-repaired right elbow and in his previous two tournaments on red clay, he'd suffered consecutive early exits. On Friday, the Serbian vented his unhappiness with the condition of the clay on Campo Centrale, telling the chair umpire at one point during the first set that the court was an "absolute disaster."
"Every bounce is different," Djokovic claimed, as workers grafted to smoothen the court out. "It seems like there's too much clay. A half meter in, half meter out." His third-round opponent will be Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6 (3).
For Alcaraz, though, it still "wasn't easy" to take his record to 30-2 this season. "The first round of every tournament is really tough and of course, Albert, especially on clay, is a really tough opponent," the Spanish sensation told the ATP's official website.
"I had to adapt my game really quickly to be able to get though. The conditions weren't easy as well, the rain, the waiting all day. I didn't know if I was going to play or not. But I'm really happy with my performance at the end."
Meanwhile, Great Britain's Dan Evans was beaten 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-4 by Roberto Carballes Baena, and there were also second-round wins for Borna Coric, JJ Wolf and Lorenzo Sonego. World No.6 Andrey Rublev overcame Alex Molcan 6-3 6-4 in a second-round match featuring two rain interruptions.
"I'm happy that I was able to finish just before the rain," said Rublev, speaking as the bad weather returned soon after match point. "I really like slower courts, especially when it's weather like this, cold and rainy. I like it even more because I have more time."
In the women's singles, Camila Osorio claimed a milestone third-round win by upsetting No.5 Caroline Garcia in straight sets. The 6-4 6-4 win was the first top-five victory of the Colombian's career and takes her into the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.
Have your say! Who'll win the men's and women's Italian Open? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
Osorio's next challenge is number 12 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated Magda Linette 7-5 6-4 in a first-time meeting. China's Wang Xiyu advanced against Taylor Townsend after coming back from a break down in the final set and saving one match point to triumph 6-2 0-6 7-5.
Wang said: "I just tried my best and fight every point. It was good, I fought until the end." No.11 seed Veronika Kudermetova, Anhelina Kalinina and Qinwen Zheng also progressed into the last 16 before the rain arrived.
