For Djokovic the seventeenth consecutive quarter-final in Rome
The Italian Jannik Sinner, seeded number 8, comes out of the Internazionali d'Italia by surprise, beaten by the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo (6-7 6-2 6-2), and so the protagonist of the day is still Novak Djokovic: the Serbian champion advances to the quarterfinals with a victory in two sets over Cameron Norrie, in a one-sided match (6-3 6-4), in which the only point of discussion was the smash by the British who hit the calf of Nole.
Tomorrow Djokovic will find the Danish Holger Rune (who surpassed Popyrin) who beat him in the final at Bercy. However, the record belongs once again to the Serbian tennis player who reaches the impressive result of the seventeenth consecutive quarter-final (out of 17 appearances) conquered in Rome: «I am definitely satisfied - explains Djokovic - with my results here in Rome. It's one of my best tournaments on the circuit. I won the tournament several times and played a lot of finals or semi-finals, quarterfinals in these 17 years. In Rome I have many supporters and I always generate good energy. I think the tournament comes at exactly the right time for me to raise the level and quality of my tennis, so that I'm in the right shape for Roland Garros. I'm really happy to have reached another quarter-final."
Now the spotlight is on the meeting with Holger Rune. «We only played once - explains Djokovic - I lost against him at Paris Bercy in a very fought match. Even though he is very young, I know his game quite well. He is a top 10 player, deservedly so. He can hurt you from both forehand and backhand and he has a really solid serve. In particular, he is really at ease with him on clay. I think it will be a very physical match».
Returning to Jannik Sinner, his run at the Internazionali d'Italia 2023 ends. The Italian was defeated in Rome in the round of 16 by Cerundolo. The Argentinian prevailed with a score of 6-7 6-2 6-2 in a match in which the South Tyrolean dropped the level of his tennis in the second and third sets. On the same day, the other Italian Lorenzo Sonego had also left the scene, beaten in two sets (6-3 7-6) by the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
