Thompson survives trial by serve to win in Italian Open

The 31-year-old eventually pulled off his fifth straight win over the much-touted 203cm youngster, despite Mpetshi Perricard sending down 13 aces on the clay, with one delivery timed at a fearsome 235km/h despite still having to deal with a niggling oblique muscle injury.

"I was actually not sure if I was going to be able to play today, but I'm glad I gave it a go -- but my body might not be thanking me tomorrow," a smiling Thompson told the Tennis Channel.

Thompson, who had a groin problem in Monte Carlo then had to withdraw from the Barcelona Open singles with the oblique problem and missed Madrid, has endured a troubled clay-court campaign but reckoned that, somehow, he's become Mpetshi Perricard's "nightmare match-up", having beaten him in Monte Carlo and Miami.

"I've got an okay serve myself, my second serve's a good kicker, so he can't really run around too many, and then I block a lot of returns that just frustrates the hell out of him," said Thompson, who's fallen back to world No.41 this year.

Indeed, he's been defeating Mpetshi Perricard so often of late that Thompson evidently even felt a bit sorry for him. 

"It's a tough one. I actually felt bad at the net today," said 'Tommo'.

"Generally, I don't really care. I take the win, but I would say 'no empathy'. But today I didn't even say anything at the shake of hands. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to hear from me, he doesn't want to see me - so I got out of his way pretty quick!"

Next up in the second round, Thompson has another tough assignment against American Brandon Nakashima, the world No.29 who he's played at the last two Wimbledons, winning in 2023 but losing last year. 

Thompson was the only Aussie man to progress on a damp day, with Chris O'Connell proving no match for Britain's former Wimbledon semi-finalist Cam Norrie in a 6-3 6-2 defeat and his fellow Sydneysider Rinky Hijikata going down 3-6 6-1 7-5 to Frenchman Corentin Moutet in a tough two-and-a-half hour duel.