Djokovic, Nadal reach quarterfinals

TOP seeds Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal reached the quarterfinals of the Italian Open along with another former winner Alexander Zverev on Thursday as spectators returned to the stands for the first time in Italy.

Defending champion Djokovic needed just 70 minutes to sweep past Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-1, with the Foro Italico venue filled to 25 percent of capacity for the first time amid the easing of the Covid-19 restrictions.

"It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd," said the 33-year-old Djokovic.

Nine-time champion Nadal had to save two match points against Canada's Denis Shapovalov in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) battle over nearly 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Nadal will next play last week's Madrid Masters winner Zverev, the sixth seed, who needed nearly three hours to see off Japan's Kei Nishikori 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal lost to Zverev, 24, in the Madrid quarterfinals last week with the German, also a former Italian Open winner, having beaten Djokovic in the 2017 final.

Djokovic and Nadal have won 14 of the last 16 Rome titles between them, playing each other in the final five times.

"The main thing today for me is to recover physically," said 34-year-old Nadal, who has fallen early in two clay-court Masters tournaments in Monte Carlo and Madrid ahead of Roland Garros.

Djokovic, a five-time Rome winner, next plays Monte Carlo champion Stefano Tsitsipas who ended the run of home hope Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in one hour and 36 minutes.

It will be a rematch of last year's French Open semifinal which the Serbian won.

"It always feels like home coming back to Rome," said Djokovic, who has never failed to reach the quarterfinals in his 15 appearances in the clay-court event.

After losing his opening service game, Djokovic powered back with five breaks of serve to seal the win on his sixth match point.