Kevin Anderson will compete in the third round of the Rome Masters following a 6-3 7-6[7] victory over Marin Cilic in Italy.

Anderson started on the front foot in the clash by grabbing a vital break in the opening set, while Cilic struggled to make an impact on the game with his shots across the court.

The momentum was with Anderson for the start of the second set following his earlier triumph, but Cilic was able to match him by holding his serve well.

While Cilic had the chance to draw level on sets, Anderson pushed him back to a tie-break, which could have gone either way, but it was Anderson who just edged the contest 9-7 to move into the next phase of the tournament.