Djokovic cruises into quarter-finals

ITALY - Novak Djokovic eased into the Italian Open quarter-finals yesterday after breezing past Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4, although there was tension with the Briton after the top seed was hit by a smash.

The Serb has reached the last eight in each of his previous 16 appearances in the Italian capital and he did again yesterday, getting past Norrie on centre court to set up a clash with Holger Rune.

It will be a rematch of last year’s Paris Masters final, when the young Dane won his first Masters 1000 title by beating Djokovic in a thrilling

esqturitae Hde’s match.

“Even though he’s really young, I

MANCHESTER - Real Madrid’s squad and staff were left stranded at Manchester Airport after their coach failed to turn up on time.

Los Blancos flew into England on Tuesday ahead of their crunch Champions League clash against Man City on Wednesday (May 17) evening. After landing at terminal two, they were forced to hang around for roughly half an hour.

Late

Their team bus, which had been driven up separately from Spain, was running late. It did eventually arrive to transport them to the Hyatt Regency hotel, just outside the city centre.

Boss Carlo Ancelotti looked less than impressed with the delay as he stood waiting around by the exit. His players, who were dressed all in black, appeared to be in better spirits, though. been on the tour now for last few years playing some great tennis, particularly in the last I would say six to eight months,” said Djokovic.

“He’s in very good form and I look forward to a challenge. I think it’s going to be a very physical match.”

Chances

Djokovic is gunning for a seventh title on clay in Rome and his chances have been made a little bit easier by the shock elimination of Carlos Alcaraz on Monday.

Alcaraz, who won two consecutive tournaments at Barcelona and Madrid, will take world No 1 spot from Djokovic on May 22 but it is the 22-time Grand Slam champion who could go into Roland Garros with yet another title under his belt.