Bucharest, Day1. Graziotti and Iacovino get off to a flying start. Today the round of 16 and the quarter-finals

The Italians Giulio Graziotti and Simone Iacovino were among the standout performers on the first day of the FIP Gold in Bucharest. The Italian duo, fresh from their victory at the FIP Bronze in Sassuolo – with Iacovino having also won a bronze medal at the Mediterranean Games in Taranto alongside Marco Cassetta – defeated third seeds Denis Perino and Andres Fernandez Lancha 7-6 3-6 6-4 and will face an all-Italian clash against Lorenzo Di Giovanni and Giuseppe Fino today. The top two seeded pairs also made a strong start in Romania: David Gala and Enzo Jensen defeated Santino Giuliani and Juan Manuel Lasgoity 6-1 6-2, whilst Pablo Lijó and Xisco Gil did the same (7-6 6-4) against Thomas Vanbauce and Lucas Miranda, who had come through the qualifiers.

 

In the women’s draw, the top five seeds – who benefited from a bye in the first round – make their debut today: the number 6 seeds, Alba Perez and Alba Gallardo, reached the second round with a double 6-0 victory over Alice Tartaglia and Raluca Elena Ciufrila. It is set to be a very long day today on the courts at the Nastase and Marica Sports Club: the round of 16 matches are scheduled for the morning, but all the winning pairs will be back on court in the afternoon for the quarter-finals. All matches played on centre court will be streamed live on the FIP YouTube channel.