Reigning champion Novak Djokovic needed three sets to beat world number 174 Nicolas Almagro 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3 in the second round of the Italian Open this afternoon.
Djokovic was making his first appearance after taking three weeks off, but showed no sign of rustiness in the opening set as he broke the Spaniard twice on his way to a 6-1 success.
The second set was much tighter, with neither man giving up their serve and a tie-break required to separate the duo.
Top seed Djokovic had the better of the breaker early on and was 5-2 in front before Almagro reeled off five points in a row to win the set and delight the underdog-rooting Rome crowd.
Both men continued to look unstoppable behind their own serve in the decider, but Almagro was the first to wobble as Djokovic broke to go 5-3 in front.
A three-time champion in the Italian capital, Djokovic set up a third-round meeting with either Thomaz Bellucci or 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut by holding serve to maintain his 100% winning record against Almagro.
Pascal Lemesre
