Rome May 15 (IANS) Georgia s Nikoloz Basilashvili on Tuesday defeated Filippo Baldi of Italy 6-4 4-6 6-4 in the first round of the Italian Open here.
Basilashvili world No. 74 needed one hour and 59 minutes to beat Baldi world No. 370 reports Efe.
Basilashvili 26 is set to play the second round against Serbia s Novak Djokovic a former world No. 1 and four-time champion at the Italian Open.
This is to be Basilashvili s first time facing the 2017 Italian Open finalist.
Currently world No. 18 Djokovic thrashed Ukraine s Alexandr Dolgopolov world No. 54 in the first round 6-1 6-3.

--IANS tri/bg