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Patna : World No 2 Daniil Medvedev, 25, Russia, crashed out of Italian Open, an ATP Masters 1,000 points event, at Rome Italy, suffering a shock second round defeat at the hands of World Ni 27 Aslan Karatsev, 27, Russia, on May 12, 2021. Medvedev had also lost to Cristian Garin, 24, Chile, in 3rd round of Madrid Ooen, also an ATP Masters 1,000 event, on May 6, 2021.
But, top seed Novak Djokovic, 33, Serbia, 4th seed Dominic Thiem, 27, Austria, 6th seed Alexander Zverev, 24, Germany, and 7th seed Andrey Rublev, 23, Russia, have reached the third round of the clay court tournament.
Karatsev, who had defeated World No 1 Novak Djokovic, Serbia, in semi-finals of Serbia Open on April 24, 2021, upset 3rd seed Medvedev in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in 78 minutes winning 3 break points and 5 games in a row during the match. Karatsev , in all, won 62 points during the match to 46 by Medvedev. Medvedev though fired 5 Aces in the match to 1 by Karatsev.
Djokovic beat World No 31 Taylor Fritz, 23, USA, in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 in 2nd round on May 11, 2021, late night. Djokovic, the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, won 3 break points in the match to 2 bt Fritz. Both the players won 3 games each in a row in the match. Fritz fired 4 Aces in the match to 3 by the Serbian. Djokovic, in all, won 76 points in the match to 65 by the American. Djokovic will face World No 48 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 21, Spain, in 3rd round.
Reigning US Open champion & 4th Dominic Thiem beat World No 44 Marton Fucsovics, 29, Hungary, in three-sets 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 in in 2nd round on 2hrs 33 minutes on May 12, 2021. Thiem won 5 break points in the match to 4 by Fucsovics. The Australian won 8 games in a row in the match to 4 by the Hungarian. Thiem won 99 points in the match to 89 Fucsovics.
World No 6 Zverev defeated World No 128 Hugo Dellien, 27, Bolivia, in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in 2nd round winning 4 break points and 5 games in a row during the match.
World No 7 Andrey Rublev, who had defeated World No 3 Rafael Nadal, Spain, in QFs of Monte-Carlo Masters last month, beat World No 41 Jan-Lennard Struff, 31, Germany, in three sets 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 in 2nd round. Rublev hammered 12 Aces in the match to 11 by Struff. The Russian won 3 break points and 5 games in a row in the match.
Rublev will face World No 11 Roberto Bautista Tenth seed Agut, 33, Spain, in 3rd round. Agut beat Cristian Garin, 24, Chile, 7-6, 6-3 in 2nd round on May 12, 2021.