Edmund edged out in epic tie- breaker
● Zverev proves too strong for British No 1 ● Birthday girl Konta also loses in Rome
Kyle Edmund produced a valiant display as Alexander Zverev beat him 7- 5, 7- 6 ( 13/ 11) at the Inter na zion aliBNL d’italia in Rome.
Edmund went out after an epic second-set tie-break in which he saved seven match points.
The British No 1 had two set points in the second set, but he was unable to stop the defending champion reaching the quarter- finals.
Zverev came into the match in excellent clay court form after recent successes in Munich and Madrid.
The German seemed on a comfortable course for his 11 th successive win as he took an early advantage. But Edmund broke back to level at 5- 5 before Zverev responded by taking the next two games.
Edmund was so on a break down in the second set, but he won three games in a row to make it 5- 4.
He was unable to take a set point as Zverev made sure of a tie- break which will be long remembered.
Edmund saved three match points at 6- 3 down and then led 7- 6 to stand on the brink of forcing a deciding set.
But Zverev saved a second set point for Edmund and eventually accepted his eighth match point to set up a date today with Belgium’s David Goffin.
Ra fa el Nadal subdued the precocious talent of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov to reach the quarter- finals.
There were plenty of the eye- catching shots that make 19- year- old Shapovalov such an exciting prospect as he saved eight break points in his first two service games, but Nadal ultimately eased to a 6- 4, 6- 1 victory.
In the last eight Nadal will face another flashy player in Italian Fa bio Fog ni ni, who delighted the home crowd with a 6-4,6-4 win against Peter Gojowczyk.
In the women’s draw, there was no birthday victory for Jo hanna K on ta as she was beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the third round.
Konta, celebrating her 27th birthday, could not build on a fine start and her search for a top- ten victor y in 2018 goes on after sixth seed Ostapenko fought back to win 2- 6, 6- 3, 6- 4.
The British No 1 was looking to reach the quarter-finals in Rome for the first time and was hugely impressive in the opening set against a belowpar Ostapenko. But the Latvian showed with her stunning victor y at Roland Garros last summer that she possess es some of the most potent attacking shots in the game and she began to find her groove in the second set.
After going 2- 0 down, Konta fought bravely to stay in contention in the decider, saving a succession of break points, but she could not break the Ostapenko serve and slipped to defeat after two hours and 13 minutes.