ROME (Reuters) – Holder Novak Djokovic blasted past Briton Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 in a tense encounter to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday and remain on track for a seventh title in Rome.
Djokovic made slow starts to his opening two matches but the fired-up world number one bolted out of the blocks for a 3-0 lead and let slip two opportunities to break Rio champion Norrie a second time before taking the first set on serve.
The duo swapped breaks early in a spicy second set where Norrie’s overhead shot hit Djokovic on the leg after the Serbian had turned his back on the net. The 22-times Grand Slam champion continued to stare down Norrie at the end of the fifth game.
An error-prone Norrie surrendered his serve again and had treatment for a right leg issue, before top seed Djokovic came from 0-30 down in the final game of the contest to complete the victory over the world number 13 on his second match point.
“So far so good,” Djokovic, who will meet seventh seed Holger Rune or Alexei Popyrin in the last eight, said of his progress in Rome.
“It was an early start today. Strange conditions. I actually finished my warm-up 10 minutes before I went on the court so I was rushing a bit with everything but we couldn’t play earlier because of the rain.
“I’m just glad to overcome today’s challenge in straight sets and move on.”
Djokovic skipped the Madrid event due to an elbow injury and spent time getting treatment for an unspecified issue before Tuesday’s match but the 35-year-old said there was no cause for fresh concern.
“Every day there’s something,” said Djokovic. “Thankfully I was able to play and finish the match and hopefully tomorrow I will feel even better.”
Iga Swiatek continues her title defence when she takes on Donna Vekic for a place in the women’s quarter-finals.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
