Djokovic is made to battle by Dimitrov as Swiatek eases into last 16 of Italian Open
▶ Top seed taken to decider by Hungarian as Pole also cruises through with 6-2, 6-0 victory over Tsurenko
World No 1 Novak Djokovic was made to battle to get past 33rd-ranked Grigor Dimitrov to reach the last 16 of the Italian Open yesterday.
Top seed Djokovic, a six-time winner in Rome, eventually eased through 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 against the Bulgarian.
The Serb, who missed the recent Madrid Open with an elbow injury, was no longer in the brace he wore during his second-round victory over Tomas Etcheverry.
And he seemed to have rediscovered his form against Dimitrov when, after losing his serve in the first game, he took the opening set 6-3 and broke to take a 4-2 lead in the second.
But the Bulgarian, a former world No 3, battled back to win four games in a row to clinch the second set 6-4 and take the match into a decider.
Djokovic cruised to a 6-1 win in the final set and will face either Britain’s Cameron Norrie or Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in the next round as he seeks another win in Italy ahead of the French Open later this month.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev broke his Rome duck on his fourth attempt with a clinical second-round win over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.
“It’s a little bit of a relief,” Medvedev said after his 6-4, 6-2 win.
“Whenever I come to a tournament, I know that I can play well, so I’m happy to finally get the win here in Rome.”
Last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas also cruised into the third round, taking only five minutes to win the two games needed to complete a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Nuno Borges after the contest was suspended on Saturday due to rain. He will meet home hope Lorenzo Sonego in the third round. Seventh seed Holger Rune was equally impressive in his 6-4, 6-2 win over local favourite Fabio Fognini and will meet Alexei Popyrin in round four after the Australian overcame Roman Safiullin 7-5, 7-5.
In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek, the losing finalist in Madrid last weekend, breezed into the last 16. The 21-year-old Pole is aiming to capture her third straight Rome title and made light work of Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, winning 6-2, 6-0 after a slightly bumpy start.
Swiatek lost the first two games but then rattled off 12 in a row in a powerful demonstration of why she is world No 1 and favourite to defend her Roland Garros title in Paris.
“I’m just trying to be consistent and trying to play my game,” said Swiatek on court after the match. “I treat every match as a final, I try to have the right mindset,”
Swiatek now faces either Donna Vekic or Ljudmila Samsonova in the fourth round after extending her winning streak in the Italian capital to 13 matches.
Her bid for a Rome hat-trick will be helped by six of the world’s top 10 women players
I’m just trying to be consistent, have the right mindset and trying to play my game. I treat every match as a final IGA SWIATEK
World No 1
being eliminated early. Fifthranked Coco Gauff of the US was defeated by Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. It was Bouzkova’s third career Top 5 win but first on clay.
Also heading for the exit was world No 8 Maria Sakkari, who was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova. Gauff and Sakkari join world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, third-ranked Jessica Pegula, world No 4 Caroline Garcia and seventh-ranked Ons Jabeur in being dumped out of the tournament.
Former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka withdrew with a right leg injury handing Madison Keys of the US a bye into the last 16.