Second seed Alexander Zverev secured his second victory in as many weeks against the rising Belgian talent Alexander Blockx, while Spanish teenage sensation Rafael Jodar overcame a home crowd favorite in the third round of the Italian Open on Sunday.
Zverev triumphed with a 6-4, 6-1 win in Rome, just nine days after handing Blockx a 6-2, 7-5 defeat in the Madrid Open semifinals. The 21-year-old Blockx, who has climbed to 36th in the world rankings, struggled against Zverev’s dominance. The German won 38 of 53 service points (71.7%) and converted 9 of 12 net points (75%), saving both break points he faced.
Zverev noted that his performance was “much better” compared to his second-round match, where he beat fellow German Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-3. “I think it was difficult to play pretty tennis from the baseline today because the conditions were not easy, it was very windy,” Zverev said. “But overall, I am very happy.”
Meanwhile, 32nd-seeded Rafael Jodar continued his impressive clay-court run, defeating Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. The 19-year-old Spaniard, now ranked 34th, has enjoyed a breakout season with victories at the ATP 250 event in Marrakech, a semifinal appearance in Barcelona (ATP 500), and quarterfinal run in Madrid (ATP Masters 1000), where he lost to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
“I’m very happy. It’s never easy to play an Italian here in Rome,” Jodar said. “I tried to play my tennis. Matteo played very well in the second and third sets, so I just tried to be there every point and accept whatever happened during the match.” Jodar fired 28 winners and converted 7 of 10 break-point opportunities, while Arnaldi managed only 16 winners alongside 33 unforced errors.
Jodar will next face 19th-seeded Learner Tien, who defeated Kazakhstan’s ninth seed Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Zverev, meanwhile, will take on Italy’s 18th-seeded Luciano Darderi, who overcame 16th seed Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Other results included eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy beating 25th seed Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7), 6-4; 23rd seed Casper Ruud of Norway upsetting Czech 11th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4; 13th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia rallying past Botic van de Zandschulp 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; and Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic eliminating 31st seed Ugo Humbert 6-1, 7-5.
