ROME: Novak Djokovic eased into the Italian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday after breezing past Cameron Norrie although there was tension with the Briton after the top seed was hit by a smash. While Djokovic dispatched Norrie 6-3, 6-4, Monte Carlo Masters winner Andrey Rublev and home hope Jannik Sinner both crashed out in Rome, a key warmup for the French Open. Djokovic has reached the last eight in each of his previous 16 appearances in the Italian capital and he did it again, getting past Norrie on center court to set up a clash with Holger Rune.
It will be a rematch of last year’s Paris Masters final, when the 20-year-old Dane won his first Masters 1000 title by beating Djokovic in a thrilling match. “Even though he’s really young, I know his game quite well. He’s been on the tour now for last few years playing some great tennis, particularly in the last I would say six to eight months,” said Djokovic.
“He’s in very good form and I look forward to a challenge. I think it’s going to be a very physical match.” Djokovic is gunning for a seventh title on clay in Rome and his chances have been made a little bit easier by the shock elimination of Carlos Alcaraz on Monday. Alcaraz, who won two consecutive tournaments at Barcelona and Madrid, will take world number one spot from Djokovic on May 22 but it is the 22-time Grand Slam champion who could go into Roland Garros with yet another title under his belt.
Djokovic won the first three games against Norrie and closed out the first set with little fuss, without needing to be at his best. The 35-year-old then took the second set to 2-1 with a break, but in the next game Norrie broke back while angering Djokovic with a smash which hit him on the back of his left leg. Norrie
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