Greece’s Tsitsipas to face Djokovic in quarterfinals

In front of a passionate crowd on the Grand Stand Arena, Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame Italian No 1 Matteo Berrettini 76(3) 6-2 to reach the Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarterfinals in Rome yesterday.

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

Tsitsipas has reached the quarterfinals at eight of his nine tournament appearances this season.

The FedEx ATP Race To Turin leader is through to the last eight in Rome for the second time in four visits to the Foro Italico (2019 SF).

The World No 5 will face five-time champion Novak Djokovic for a spot in the semifinals.

Djokovic needed just 70 minutes to charge past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2 6-1 in the opening match.

“[Djokovic] has won here a lot of times.

“I am just expecting to go out there [and] give my best performance,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match interview.

“He can play on all surfaces. We played each other at Roland Garros.

“I see this as an opportunity for me to do something better this time.

“I hope to be able to play the same tennis that I have been playing so far and be a challenge for him.”

In a first set dominated by serve, Tsitsipas rallied from 1/3 down in the tiebreak with six consecutive points.

The Greek attacked Berrettini’s forehand and took advantage of consecutive volley errors to move a set from victory.

Tsitsipas piled the pressure on his opponent’s serve early in the second set.

The 22-year-old created six break points across his opening two return games, and he broke through at 1-1 to increase his advantage.

Tsitsipas closed the match with a second break and a love service hold to improve his ATP Head2Head record against the Madrid runner-up to 2-0.

“I had to deal with very serious business today,” Tsitsipas said.

“Matteo was applying a lot of pressure with his serve, being very precise and accurate and that was the most difficult [part] of the match today.

“In the tiebreak, I found my footwork which helped me transform my game and feel more comfortable playing the rallies. —