Edmund pulls off another feat of clay in Rome
● Powerful display overcomes Pouille
Kyle Edmund continued his fine clay court form with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) second-round win over world No 16 Lucas Pouille at the Italian Open in Rome.
The Briton defeated Novak Djokovic and David Goffin on his way to the quarter-finals in Madrid last week and reached the third round in the Italian capital with a solid service performance against the Frenchman.
Edmund, who moved into the world’s top 20 on Monday, broke twice in the first set and offered just one break point in the whole match before blitzing Pouille in the second set tiebreak for a comfortable win.
Rafael Nadal put his loss to Dominic Thiem in Madrid behind him by dropping just one game against Damir Dzumhur in his opening match in Rome.
Defeat in the quarter-finals last week meant not just the end of his 50-set winning streak on clay but also his stay as world No 1, with Roger Federer reclaiming the spot. But Nadal can take it back by winning in Rome and he set his stall out by blitzing Dzumhur 6-1, 6-0 in an hour. Novak Djokovic reached the final last year and faces a big ranking drop if he does not come close to matching that. The Serbian, however, defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round.
Sixth seed Thiem made the final in Madrid but was upset by Italian Fabio Fognini on a raucous Centrale Court, the home favourite coming through 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Johanna Konta showed her improving form in a convincing win over Hsieh Su-wei in the women’s second round.
The 26-year-old British No 1 looked confident and assertive in a 6-0, 6-4 victory over the unconventional Hsieh, who shocked Konta in the first round of the French Open last summer. This time, Konta lost just six points in the first six games. In a more competitive second set, Hsieh recovered from 5-2 to 5-4 before Konta clinched victory.