Spain's Pablo Carreno starts Rome Masters with win

Rome, May 17: Spanish tennis player Pablo Carreno made a great start in the Rome Masters with a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon.

In a match that lasted one hour and 16 minutes on Tuesday evening, the world no. 21 advanced to the second round of the tournament.

The two players have clashed three times before with Carreno achieving a victory once (Estoril 2016 quarter-finals) and Simon twice (Madrid and Shanghai, both in 2016).

In the second round, the Spaniard will meet the winner in the match between his compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.