Flawless Djokovic crushes UK’s Norrie to reach Rome quarters
Defending champion Novak Djokovic powered past Briton Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 in a tense match to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals and remain on track for a seventh title in Rome.
Djokovic made slow starts to his opening two matches but the fired-up world number one quickly opened up a 3-0 lead and let slip two opportunities to break Rio champion Norrie a second time before taking the first set on serve.
The duo swapped breaks early in a spicy second set in which Norrie’s overhead shot hit Djokovic on the leg after the Serbian had turned his back on the net.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion continued to stare down Norrie at the end of the fifth game.
An error-prone Norrie surrendered his serve again and had treatment for a right leg issue before top seed Djokovic came from 0-30 down in the final game of the contest to complete the victory against the world number 13 on his second match point.
“So far so good,” Djokovic, who will meet seventh seed Holger Rune in the last eight, said.
“It was an early start today. Strange conditions.
“I actually finished my warmup 10 minutes before I went on the court so I was rushing a bit with everything but we couldn’t play earlier because of the rain.
“I’m just glad to overcome today’s
challenge in straight sets and move on.”
Djokovic skipped the Madrid event due to an elbow injury and spent time getting treatment for an unspecified issue but the 35-year-old said there was no cause for fresh concern.
“Every day there’s something,” Djokovic said.
“Thankfully, I was able to play and finish the match and hopefully tomorrow I will feel even better.”
Rune battled past Alexei Popyrin 6-4 5-7 6-4 to set up a rematch of last year’s Paris Masters final, where the 20-year-old Dane beat Djokovic in three sets.
Iga Swiatek continued her women’s title defence with a 6-3 6-4 win against Donna Vekic to set up an intriguing quarterfinal meeting with Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Men’s fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas downed Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 7-6(3) in a match postponed
due to rain on Monday and plays another Italian in Lorenzo Musetti for a quarterfinal spot.
Daniil Medvedev beat Alexander Zverev 6-2 7-6(3) to set up a quarterfinal against Yannick Hanfmann, who came out on top 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3 against sixth seed and Monte Carlo champion Andrey Rublev.
Argentine Francisco Cerundolo beat Jannik Sinner 6-7(3) 6-2 62 to set up a clash against fourth seed Casper Ruud.