Aljaz Bedene will face Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome after his Italian opponent Gianluca Mager retired in the third set of their first-round encounter.
British number three Bedene was leading 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 3-0 when Mager was forced to retire through injury.
Bedene had a great chance to clinch the first set when he broke Mager's serve to go 6-5 ahead, but his opponent hit back to take it to a tie-break before going on to win the set.
The 27-year-old won the second set to level things up and raced into a 3-0 lead in the third before Mager withdrew.
British number two Kyle Edmund made short work of his first-round opponent Joao Sousa.
The 22-year-old Yorkshireman needed just an hour and nine minutes to bank a 6-3 6-4 victory over an opponent ranked two places above him in 51st.
Edmund did things efficiently, breaking once in each set while successfully defending three break points on his own serve.
Having suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Joao Domingues in the first round in Estoril earlier this month this was a much tighter performance against another Portuguese opponent, with Edmund reeling off 12 aces and controlling matters throughout with his forehand.
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