Former winners Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic powered into the third round of the Italian Open in Rome on Wednesday but Austrian Dominic Thiem fell at the first hurdle. Sixth seed Thiem crashed out just a week after inflicting a first clay-court defeat on Nadal in over a year in Madrid which cost the Spaniard the world number one ranking.
The 24-year-old destroyed his racket in fury as he suffered his first defeat to Italian Fabio Fognini in three meetings, sinking 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 at the Foro Italico.
Nadal later eased through 6-1, 6-0 against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur as he targets an eighth Rome title and first since 2013.
The 31-year-old, who claimed the 11th titles of his career at both Monte Carlo and Barcelona, took the first set in 34 minutes, coasting to victory in just an hour. The 16-time Grand Slam winner next takes on either Canadian Denis Shapovalov, 19, or Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
Djokovic, a four-time winner, is on the comeback trail three months after elbow surgery and eased past Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2.
The Serbia will next play Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas who needed three sets to get past American eighth seed John Isner 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).
This post was published on May 17, 2018 5:16 pm