BIG GUNS PUMPED UP
Djokovic, Nadal brace for fans
ROME, Italy (AFP) — World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and defending champion Rafael Nadal welcomed the decision to allow a limited number of fans to watch the Italian Open as the top men’s seeds advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday.
Italian government said that 1,000 spectators could be present at the Foro Italico from Sunday’s semifinals with matches so far being played in empty courts.
“If it’s safe enough, fantastic,” said Nadal after sweeping past Serb Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3 in his third round match.
Djokovic battled past fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, to remain on a collision course for a final showdown with Nadal for a second consecutive year.
“A thousand people is better than no people, for sure, because we all miss the fans,” Djokovic said. Men’s fourth seed Matteo Berrettini, the only
Italian remaining in the tournament, regretted he could not benefit from spectators for his quarterfinal against Norway’s Casper Rudd on Saturday.
“A thousand people isn’t insignificant, it’s a thousand motivations,” Berrettini said.
Nadal proved too strong for 25th-ranked Lajovic, who had valiantly but vainly launched a fightback after trailing 4-0 in the second set to the Spaniard.
But Krajinovic made long-time friend Djokovic work hard to reach the quarterfinals for the
14th time, just one fewer than Nadal.
Djokovic double faulted on the first of his three set points in the first-set tiebreak but a quick break in the second put him through in a tournament he has won four times.
“Never easy, I think, emotionally to play against someone that is one of my best friends for many years,” Djokovic said.
The top seed is warming up for the French Open in 10 days time, having made the switch from the American hard court tour where he won the Cincinnati tournament played in Flushing Meadows before the US Open from which he was disqualified.
He plays German qualifier Dominik Koepfer, who ended the run of Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-0.
World No. 2 Nadal takes on Argentine eighth seed Diego Schwartzman, who dropped a set before recovering to see off Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
A thousand people is better than no people, for sure, because we all miss the fans.
Nadal, 34, won his first Rome title back in 2005, and is bidding for a third consecutive crown on clay in the Italian capital and 10th in total.
The 12-time French Open champion is returning to competition, having not played since winning in Acapulco in February.
Top women’s seed Simona Halep and defending champion Karolina Pliskova also eased into the quarterfinals, along with two-time Rome winner Elina Svitolina.