Berrettini survives against Basilashvili while Nishikori moves on after a WO in Rome

It was much harder than he would have liked but the top Italian seed moves on in Rome as well as Nishikori who did not need to play a point.

Matteo Berrettini had a very short resting time between his Madrid Open final and his first match in Rome. The top Italian seed at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia stepped out today to face Nikoloz Basilashvili. It was much harder than he would have liked taking over two hours to defeat Basilashvili 4-6 6-2 6-4.

It was a sluggish start from Matteo who lost his serve twice in the opening set losing it 6-4 in the end. His service really failed him as he hit only 36 % of his 1st serves which proved crucial. He improved it in the 2nd set and saw results immediately. Hitting 4 aces and over 70 % of his first serves was enough to cruise to a 6-2 win.

The final set featured good play by both. The serving was good and the forehand of both was on point. The crucial moment happened at 3-3 when Matteo fended off 3 BP's to take the 4-3 lead. Basilashvili did not allow a single break point until the last game of the match which Matteo used to win it 6-4. 

Joining Matteo in the next round will be Kei Nishikori who was set to play against Carreno Busta but the Spaniard withdrew prior to match start. He had been dealing with an injury sustained in his 1st round match against Djere.