Alexander Zverev continued his Italian Open title defence by cruising past qualifier Vilius Gaubas and reaching the last 16.
Zverev barely broke a sweat on centre court against Gaubas, easing to a 6-4, 6-0 win to set up a last-16 clash with France’s Arthur Fils.
The world number two took one hour 26 minutes to see off Gaubas, suggesting that the burn-out he said he was suffering earlier in the year might be behind him.
Zverev is hoping a good defence of his Rome crown will set him up to go one better than last year at the French Open and be crowned champion.
But he will face a much tougher test against Fils, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, than the one put up by Gaubas.
“In the beginning it was a bit difficult for me, it was also very, very windy,” said Zverev.
“The wind really calmed down after the first set and then it’s easier to get into a rhythm, easier for me to have clean strokes.”
It was a good day for French players in the men’s tournament with Fils’ win and world number 83 Corentin Moutet shocking Holger Rune 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) on the picturesque Pietrangeli court to claim his first ever win over a top-10 player.
Fils came through an eventful match with former Rome finalist Tsitsipas which ended with the pair arguing over the net.
Tsitsipas was angry at Fils for ignoring his apologies after the Greek accidentally hit his opponent with a shot in the seventh game of the second set, sparking a post-match row which caused the umpire to come down from his chair.
Daniil Medvedev swept past Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-1 and next faces home hope Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-3 on centre court.
Carlos Alcaraz will continue his bid for a first Rome title when he takes to centre court to face Laslo Djere in the last match of the day.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com