The ATP Tour continues to progress towards the French Open, with the Italian Open currently taking centre stage.
Jannik Sinner made a positive return to tennis at the Italian Open, winning his opener against Mariano Navone.
The top seed at the Italian Open in Rome, the ATP Tour number one won 6-3, 6-4 against the Argentine in round two.
There were, however, plenty of shocks in the early stages of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the Italian capital.
Americans Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe all exited early, along with rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca.
Milos Raonic reveals what ATP Tour locker rooms are really like
And not taking part in the event but sharing insight into the ATP Tour is Milos Raonic, who once reached number three in the world rankings and lost the 2016 Wimbledon final to Andy Murray.
Discussing the locker room in men’s tennis, Raonic said on The Changeover Podcast: “I think everybody… there was maybe one or two people where it was like those guys don’t say hi to each other.
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“Maybe because of something which happened recently. But there was probably nobody who would not greet each other in the locker room.
“Everybody was always friendly. I think it’s kind of a fine line. Because I would speak to earlier generations, like 90s players, or players from the 80s and your closest friends on tour were like the other players.
“[John] McEnroe, for example, never travelled with a coach, so [Peter] Fleming was one of his closest friends and that was his doubles partner, he would go to dinner with him.
“Now it’s hard for players to really go to dinner together, because every player travels with two or three people.
“So if you go with your team, then you go with another player and their team. You’re like that is a massive dinner of 10. That just mentally can be tiring.
“So not everybody gets as close in that sense. But because you have that insulation on that team I think everybody is friends.
“I also think it depends who you grew up with. The American guys, between Fritz, [Tommy] Paul and [Reilly] Opelka, those guys have been the closest of friends since they were 12.
“That I think makes a big difference, how players grow up. There is not much animosity with anybody on tour. Everybody is very friendly.”
American women pushing each other on WTA Tour
Close friendships have certainly been apparent on the ATP Tour over the years, with the Big Three having clearly enjoyed such a relationship.
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were huge rivals, but the trio undoubtedly have huge respect for one another.
And such respect has certainly spilt into the next generation, although that is not to say bitterness doesn’t exist between certain players.
Tense moments are still very much apparent on court in the heat of the moment, with frustrations often boiling over into post-match handshakes.
The same can be said of players on the WTA Tour, although it is clear that the leading American women are hugely supportive of each other, similar to Raonic’s analysis of American men.
And such support has undoubtedly helped create the success many of them have enjoyed in recent times, with Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Emma Navarro all ranked within the top 10.
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