Vietnamese tennis player wins impressively, Alcaraz shows ambition at Rome Masters

Facing Reilly Opelka (whose best ranking was 17th in the world ) in the first round of the Rome Masters 2025, Vietnamese-American player Learner Tien showed excellent form.

In set 1, Learner Tien let Opelka break him in the first game, but then he brilliantly turned the situation around by breaking back in games 8 and 10 to win 6-4.

Learner Tien made an impressive start at the Rome Masters 2025 (Photo: Getty).

In the second set, the match was tense as the two players forced each other into a tie-break. It was not until the fourth point that Learner Tien was able to finish his opponent, winning 13-11 in the "shootout". Learner Tien won the ticket to the next round after a match that lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. In the second round of the Rome Masters 2025, Learner Tien will meet Tomas Machac.

This season, Learner Tien made a splash when he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the Mexican Open. The Vietnamese-born tennis player hopes to go far in the Rome Masters 2025 to gain a favorable psychological momentum before Roland Garros at the end of May.

Round 2 of the Rome Masters 2025 will take place tonight (May 9), when many stars will compete. In addition to the expected return of Jannik Sinner after a 3-month suspension, fans are interested in the race for the 2nd ATP position between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.

Carlos Alcaraz is currently ranked No. 3 in the world with 7,850 points, just 235 points behind No. 2 Zverev (Zverev has 8,085 points). Zverev is under pressure to defend his title as the reigning Rome Masters champion and Alcaraz missed last year's ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Italy due to injury.

Carlos Alcaraz sets high goals at Rome Masters 2025 (Photo: ATP).

Carlos Alcaraz only needs to win each match to earn points and if he wins in Rome, he will have 8,850 points, certainly taking the world number 2 position. Zverev must win to protect his points and this is a big pressure for the German star.

The notable detail is that the Rome Masters takes place right before Roland Garros and whoever retains the world No. 2 ranking will become the No. 2 seed at the Grand Slam in France, meaning they will avoid top seed Jannik Sinner on their way to the final.

In round 2 of the Rome Masters 2025, Alexander Zverev will face Camilo Ugo Carabelli (1:30 a.m. on May 10), Carlos Alcaraz will meet Dusan Lajovic (6 p.m. on May 9) and Jannik Sinner will face Mariano Navone (6 p.m. on May 10).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tay-vot-goc-viet-thang-an-tuong-alcaraz-the-hien-tham-vong-o-rome-masters-20250509102830706.htm