Italian Open: Former champions Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev through to last-eight

Rome: Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open along with another former winner Alexander Zverev on Thursday as spectators returned to the stands for the first time in Italy. Defending champion Djokovic needed just 70 minutes to sweep past Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-1, with the Foro Italico venue filled to 25 percent of capacity for the first time amid the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. “It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd,” said the 33-year-old Djokovic. Nine-time champion Nadal had to save two match points against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) battle over nearly 3hr 30min. Nadal will next play last week’s Madrid Masters winner Zverev, the sixth seed, who needed nearly three hours to see off Japan’s Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Nadal lost to Zverev, 24, in the Madrid quarter-finals last week with the German, also a former Italian Open winner, having beaten Djokovic in the 2017 final. Djokovic and Nadal have won 14 of the last 16 Rome titles between them, playing each other in the final five times.

A true warrior 💪

🎥: @TennisTV | @RafaelNadal | #IBI21pic.twitter.com/Y2hiOeNTp0

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 13, 2021

“The main thing today for me is recover physically,” said 34-year-old Nadal, who has fallen early in two clay-court Masters tournaments in Monte Carlo and Madrid ahead of Roland Garros. ‘Like home’ Djokovic, a five-time Rome winner, next plays Monte Carlo champion Stefano Tsitsipas who ended the run of home hope Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in one hour and 36 minutes. It will be a rematch of last year’s French Open semi-final which the Serbian won. “It always feels like home coming back to Rome,” said Djokovic, who has never failed to reach the quarter-finals in his 15 appearances in the clay-court event. After losing his opening service game, Djokovic powered back with five breaks of serve to seal the win on his sixth match point. Spaniard Nadal will be making his 16th last-eight appearance in Rome. It will also be his 97th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final. Nadal trailed by 0-4 in the opening set, and 0-3 in the second. Shapovalov also broke for 3-1 in the third set but Nadal broke back immediately and held on despite two match points against him in the 12th game to force a tie-break. Nadal’s experience in the high-pressure moments paid off against the 22-year-old who had beaten him in their first meeting in Montreal in 2017. ‘Extremely dangerous’ Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego kept home hopes alive, ousting fourth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem and next meets Russian Andrey Rublev. Sonego, ranked 33rd, won through 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5) in a match which lasted over three hours 24min. American Reilly Opelka advanced to his second Masters 1000 quarter-final with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 victory against in-form Russian Aslan Karatsev. In the women’s tournament, world number one Ashleigh Barty set up a clash with “extremely dangerous” US teenager Coco Gauff for a place in the semi-final. The top-seeded Australian won 6-3, 6-3 against Russian Veronika Kudermetova after 17-year-old Gauff earlier ousted Madrid Open winner Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka shocked Barty, 25, in last weekend’s Madrid final and the 2019 Roland Garros winner conceded she was wary of her first meeting with Gauff. “Coco has shown that she loves to bring her best tennis against the players that challenge her the most,” said Barty. “She’s extremely dangerous.” Gauff, ranked 35th, reached her fourth quarter-final of the year with a 7-5, 6-3 win over world number four Sabalenka. “I definitely feel I’m more confident on the court in my shots and my decisions. I think it just comes with experience,” said Gauff who became the youngest WTA title winner since 2004 two years ago in Linz. Fifth seed Elina Svitolina eased past former French Open and Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-2 and next meets Poland’s Iga Swiatek, the 15th seed. Six of the WTA’s top 10 players have already exited the Foro Italico, including second seed Naomi Osaka, four-time Rome winner Serena Williams, Sofia Kenin and Petra Kvitova. Defending champion Simona Halep, the third seed, was forced to pull out with a calf injury in her second-round match.