Tennis Tracker: Swiatek and Djokovic march on while Auger-Aliassime is dumped out in Rome
00:10 CET - Carlos Alcaraz (20) is ready, set and raring to go in Rome ahead of his first-ever Italian Open match on Saturday when he will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas (35).
After a practice session on Friday, he said, "the conditions are different and it is my first time in Rome. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like, but the early sensations have been good."
You can read more of his comments here.
23:55 CET - In the late game on the women's side in Rome, world number six Elena Rybakina defeated Jasmine Paolini 7-6(4), 6-1 to move into the third round.
Earlier, Canada's Bianca Andreescu (22) was sent home by Czech Marketa Vondrousova (23), who won convincingly 6-0, 6-1.
22:09 CET - Our ATP Flash Moment of the day in Rome comes from veteran Stan Wawrinka (38). The Swiss legend may have lost to Grigor Dimitrov (31) but he proved in this rally that he still has some magic left in him yet.
21:27 CET - Defending champion Novak Djokovic (35) has started his campaign in Rome with a win, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry (23) 7-6(5), 6-2.
Elsewhere on the men's side, world number four Casper Ruud (24) and number seven Holger Rune (20) both got their tournaments underway with wins.
19:55 CET - Jelena Ostapenko (25), Daria Kasatkina (26) and Barbara Krejcikova (27) are all through to the third round on the women's side, while home favourite Fabio Fognini (35) backed up his win against Andy Murray with a 6-3 7-6(6) victory over Miomir Kecmanovic (23) to reach the last 32.
18:27 CET - Karen Khachanov (26) is out of Rome, after suffering a shock three-set defeat to Gregoire Barrere (29). The Frenchman overcame his opponent 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and a half.
16:23 CET - Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka (38) has been sent home from Rome early by Grigor Dimitrov (31). Their match ended 6-4, 7-6(3).
Earlier, world number 18 Alex De Minaur (24) was upset by Marton Fucsovic (31). The Hungarian won 6-3, 6-4.
On the women's side, Karolina Muchova (26) beat Martina Trevisan (29) in an almost three-hour epic. The Czech came back from losing the first set to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Paula Badosa (25) has also progressed after beating world number seven Ons Jabeur (28) with relative ease, 6-1, 6-4.
14:26 CET - World number 10 Felix Auger-Aliassime (22) has been sent home from Rome by Alexei Popyrin (23) after a gruelling encounter. The match finished 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to the Australian.
It's more misery for the talented Canadian who has now gone out in the second round in two consecutive tournaments. What's more, he hasn’t passed the third round in his last three. With the French Open looming, it's not looking good for Auger-Aliassime.
14:21 CET - Iga Swiatek (21) has cruised past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) with brutal efficiency in Rome. The defending champ won in just over an hour without even dropping a game: 6-0, 6-0.
13:25 CET - Liudmila Samsonova (24) is into the next round, after defeating Anett Kontaveit (27) 6-3, 6-3.
Argentine Franciso Cerundolo (24) needed three sets to overcome Yibing Wu (23) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
13:00 CET - Good news for players appearing at Roland Garros later this month, the French Open organisers have announced an increase in the prize money for participants.
The men's and women's champions will receive 2.3 million euros each and even losing players in the opening three rounds of the singles draw stand to receive between 11% and 13% more this year.
12:33 CET - We have our first few results today from Rome. Jannik Sinner (21) has eased past Thanasi Kokkinakis (27) 6-1, 6-4, while Cameron Norrie (27) also had no problem dismantling Alexandre Muller (26) 6-2, 6-3.
On the women's side, Maria Sakkari (27) is through to the third round, beating Barbora Strycova (37) 6-1, 6-3.
9:21 CET - Rafael Nadal (36) is still a doubt for Roland Garros, but Coco Gauff (19) says that should he be fit for the tournament, she will not underestimate his chances of winning another title there, despite the lack of match practice.
8:20 CET - It is a very busy day in the Italian capital today, as we have the defending champions Novak Djokovic (35) and Iga Swiatek (21) kicking off their quests to retain the Rome title.
But there are a number of other heavyweights also in action, with Felix Auger-Aliassime (22) involved in the first match of the day at 11:00 CET, while Elena Rybakina (23) will round the day off at around 20:30 CET.
Jannik Sinner (21), Casper Ruud (24) and Ons Jabeur (28) will all take to the court today too, in what looks like a thrilling day of tennis.
