Tennis legends – Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open after registering contrasting victories in their respective Round of 16 matches on Thursday. While Nadal struggled to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in a three-and-a-half-hour epic against 13th seed Denis Shapovalov, World No.1 Djokovic cruised past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets – 6-2, 6-1. Djokovic broke serve in five of his seven return games to defeat Davidovich Fokina to stretch his perfect record of quarterfinal showings in the Italian capital.

In the other match – Nadal, the nine-time Roma champion, trailed 0-4 in the opening set, 0-3 in the second and saved two match points late in the third set as Shapovalov took control in their third-round clash. Second seed Nadal won through 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 – 7/3 – after nearly 3hr 30min on court against the 13th-seeded Shapovalov. The 34-year-old will next play Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the sixth seed, for a place in the last four.


The ‘King of Clay’ – Nadal grabbed the high-pressure moments and steadily raised his level to secure the victory for a spot in the last eight. The Spaniard reached his 16th last-eight appearance in Rome and a 97th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Djokovic, a five-time champion, broke serve in five of his seven return games to stretch his perfect record of quarterfinal showings in the Italian capital. Djokovic will face Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the semifinals. The fifth seed moved past Italian No. 1 and Madrid runner-up Matteo Berrettini 7-6(3), 6-2 on Grand Stand Arena.

The fifth seed won seven of his eight net points and capitalised on Berrettini’s low first-serve percentage in the second set (32%) to win in one hour and 36 minutes.

Federico Delbonis defeated Felix Auger Aliassime 6-1, 7-6 while American Reilly Opelka beat Aslan Karatsev of Russia 7-6, 6-4. There are three more men’s pre-quarterfinals yet to finish.