ROME: Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal reached the quarter-finals 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 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 3hr 30min.
Nadal will next play last week’s Madrid Masters winner Zverev, the sixth…
