Wawrinka falls in Rome, Djokovic into quarter-finals
ROME: Third seed Stan Wawrinka became the latest high-profile casualty at the Italian Open on Thursday when the Swiss was knocked out in the third round by American John Isner.
Isner took his ace count to 72 in three rounds as he powered past Wawrinka 7-6 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
It was his first clay court win against a top-10 player at an ATP Tour event and his reward is a clash with Croatia’s Marin Cilic who beat David Goffin 6-3 6-4.
World No 2 Novak Djokovic continued to look more like his old self after a slump as he saw off Spanish clay courter Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-4 6-4 on Court Centrale to reach the quarters for an 11th successive year.
Favourite Rafa Nadal’s im- perious start to the clay court season continued as he maintained his unbeaten streak on the surface this year with a 6-3 6-4 victory over 13th seeded American Jack Sock.
He will now face Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals, with the Austrian having become a familiar foe after two previous meetings in the last three weeks.
Earlier there was disappointment for home fans as Fabio Fognini, who beat top seed Andy Murray on Tuesday, was outplayed 6-3 6-3 by Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
The Italian lost his cool over a line call and failed to recover.
Fognini lost the first set 6-3 and his game deteriorated early in the second set, when the Italian argued with umpire Mohamed Lahyani over a Zverev serve.
Lahyani got out of his chair to check a mark at Fognini’s request, but told the Italian to “stop talking” after the Italian continued to vent his anger.
Zverev, who turned 20 last month, wrapped up the second set 6-3, and will play Canada’s Milos Raonic, the number five seed, next after he beat Tomas Berdych.
Nine-time French Open champion Nadal has insisted world No1 Murray will be ready for Roland Garros despite his poor recent form.
Nadal has won all three clay competitions this season, while Murray struggled in Madrid and Monte Carlo and lost out in the semi-finals in Barcelona.
Since the start of the year, Murray has won just one of seven tournaments, but Nadal is confident the Briton will be prepared for the French Open, which starts at the end of the month.
“He’s a great player, unbelievable player,” said Nadal after booking his spot in the last 16 of the Italian Open on Wednesday. “He will be ready for Roland Garros. He has one week and a half to practice, and he will be one of the candidates (for the title).”
Meanwhile, Venus Williams powered into the quarter-finals with a dominant 6-1 3-6 6-1 victory over fifth seed Johanna Konta.
The American will meet either defending champion Garbine Muguruza or Germany’s Julia Georges in the quarter-finals.
Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, who defeated world number one Angelique Kerber on Wednesday, continued to build momentum with a 6-1 6-1 victory over 16th-seed Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
Sixth-seed Simona Halep marched past Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 4-6 6-0 in the other third-round clash. The Romanian will face Kontaveit in the quarter-finals.
Unseeded Daria Gavrilova stunned Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the final eight of the competition with a 2-6 7-5 6-4 victory. – Reuters