“I enjoyed the match but honestly I enjoyed, I loved it. The crowd was going for it, they were doing everything they possibly could to get him over the finish line, but I stayed strong and somehow got through it.

“I try not to take it in too much, try to look at the positives even if I play a bad game. It’s a long process out there, you have just got to stay patient, stay hungry and look forward to the next one.

“Tennis-wise I am actually just excited to have won my first set in Rome, it took me three years to win a set here. My first win in Rome, I am looking forward to the next round and hopefully I can play some good tennis again.”