Author: Barkha Roy
At the Rome Masters, Novak Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets, employing his powerful and aggressive style of play on the Italian clay court. That was too much for Norrie, as Djokovic dominated the match from the start. On the other hand, Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked women’s player, booked her place in the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the third time in a row by beating Donna Vekic, ranked 21st, 6-3, 6-4.
In his quest for a seventh title in Rome, Novak Djokovic is aiming to repeat his previous successes at the tournament in 2008, 2011, 2014-2015, 2020 and 2022. After an imposing 89-minute victory, the 35-year-old Serb will face Denmark’s Holger Rune in the next round. Rune faced a challenging match against Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin and managed to secure a hard-fought victory in a three-hour battle, winning 6-4, 5-7 and 6-4.
In a separate match, Daniil Medvedev, the current world number 3, secured victory against Alexander Zverev with a 6-2, 7-6(3) scoreline on Tuesday. Earlier in the day at the Foro Italico, Zverev had already emerged victorious in a rain-delayed third round match against J.J. Wolf. However, Zverev’s attempt to win two matches in one day was thwarted by Medvedev’s dominant performance. Medvedev controlled the long baseline rallies throughout the match and took three of the nine break point opportunities, adding to his remarkable record of 36 wins this season, which leads the ATP Tour.
In another match, Norway’s Casper Ruud easily beat Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-1, 6-3 to book his place in the quarter-finals. He will now face the 24th seed, Francisco Cerundolo, in this round. Cerundolo, on the other hand, managed to overcome the challenge of local favorite Jannik Sinner, winning the match 6-7(3), 6-2 and 6-2. Then Yannick Hanfmann, a qualifier ranked 101st in the world, caused an upset by beating sixth seed Andrey Rublev in a tight match that ended 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3. This victory marks Hanfmann’s first appearance in the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. His next opponent will be third seed Daniil Medvedev.
In the women’s event, following her victory over Vekic, Swiatek will face Elena Rybakina. Veronika Kudermetova, ranked 12th, reached her second successive WTA 1000 semi-final as she overcame the challenge of 21st seed Zheng Qinwen with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
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On Friday, she will face Anhelina Kalinina, who secured her place in the semi-finals by fighting a tough battle against the only remaining Brazilian participant, Beatriz Haddad Maia. Kalinina emerged victorious in a thrilling encounter, winning 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-3. Notably, this match between Kalinina and Haddad Maia has the distinction of being the longest match of the 2023 Hologic WTA Tour season, lasting an impressive 3 hours and 41 minutes.
Securing the last spot as the eighth qualifier for the quarter-finals of the tournament, Paula Badosa emerged victorious with a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Karolina Muchova. Her next opponent will be Jelena Ostapenko, who also advanced to the quarter-finals after a hard-fought three-set win over eighth seed Daria Kasatkina in her own fourth round match.