Novak Djokovicnumber 1 in the world until Monday, she qualified without great suffering for the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters 1000 beating the British 6-3 and 6-4 on Tuesday Cameron Norie (13th), which infuriated the Serbian an involuntary hit of the ball in the leg in one burst.
Nole, who on Monday will give the number 1 to Carlos Alcaraz, already eliminated in Rome, played his part 77th match in the Italian capitalequaling the record of Rafael Nadal. He will be looking for a place in the semifinals against the Danish Rune Holger (7th), another spicy rival, who needed three sets to beat the Australian Alexei Popyrin (77°); 6-4, 5-7 and 6-4.
Djokovic is in the quarterfinals of the Foro Italico for the 17th consecutive time. Against Norrie he started on goal, with a break that helped him make it 3-0. Without being brilliant, although very solid in the exchanges, he scored the first set without hesitation.
In the second, when Djokovic was leading 2-1, Norrie hit the legs of the Serbian hard with a ball, who had ignored the play and had his back to his rival.
The Briton apologized with his hand, but Djokovic stared at him for a few seconds and approached the net waiting for an explanation that didn’t come.
Until the end Djokovic was very serious, making it clear that a light apology was not enough. He ended the game without losing his temper and greeted Norrie as coldly as he could muster.
Furthermore, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th) concluded the match of the third round interrupted by the rain on Monday with a victory over the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (48th); 6-3 and 7-6 (3). The German Alexander Zverev (22nd) also qualified for the round of 16, beating the American JJ Wolf (54th), 6-4, 7-5.
Source: AFP
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.