Radu Albot had a good start at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament of Rome. In the first round, the best Moldovan tennis player beat France’s Benoit Paire, World No. 46, 6-3, 6-2, IPN reports.

The match lasted for 1 hour and 27 minutes. Albot, World No. 44, reached the second round of the competition held in the capital of Italy for the first time. In the second round, he plays Italy’s Fabio Fognini, World No. 12. The two athletes met two times so far and each of them scored by a victory.

The prize money of the Rome tournament is almost €5.8 million. World leader Novak Djokovic of Serbia is the top seed.