ATP: Cilic must detain in Rome, Shapovalov becomes number one

The men’s program at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome lasted from Tuesday to midnight. And yet could not be listed in full.

Marin Cilic shot down the night bird in Rome on Tuesday: At 10:37 p.m. on the dot, the Croatian started his match against Ryan Harrison at the Campo Centrale in Foro Italico.

And the Croatian in third place was not even allowed to finish his match: Exactly at the middle of the tiebreak of the first set the rain started again, to be continued on Wednesday in Foro Italico, which was already packed anyway.

A few hours earlier Denis Shapovalov had worked his way through Tomas Berdych on the same spot, this time successfully: In London’s Queen´s Club last year the Czech had still been ahead, in Rome the young Canadian almost missed a 5:2 lead in the decisive tiebreak.

Now it’s Shapovalov against Robin Haase, fittingly on Wednesday in the NextGen Arena. The left-hander had the fans’ sympathies on his side in the match against Berdych. It won’t be any different against Haase. Denis Shapovalov, just a few days ago a semi-finalist in Madrid, has already managed one thing with his entry into round two: starting next week he will be the Canadian number one, overtaking Milos Raonic in the ATP world rankings.

Another man of the next generation, Stefanos Tsitsipas, continued his strong spring – even though the Greek benefited from Borna Coric’s task. But once again, Tstitsipas, most recently a finalist in Barcelona, has worked his way through the qualification into a main field and can now try his hand at Juan Martin del Potro.

David Goffin finally made it unnecessarily exciting against Marco Checcinato, the winner of the ATP tournament in Budapest: the Belgian gave up the first set despite leading with two breaks, but then Checcinato lost strength and inspiration. Goffin’s pay: He’s free on Wednesday, he’s already in round three.

Here the single tableau of the men in Rome