Defending champion Daniil Medvedev became the latest headliner to be eliminated from the Italian Open tennis tournament, losing to Tommy Paul on Tuesday.
Paul, 14e seeded, won 6-1, 6-4. The first set lasted just 28 minutes as he broke Medvedev’s serve three times.
The Russian offered better opposition in the second set, even obtaining a break of service. Paul, however, responded immediately by breaking Medvedev’s serve again and he was never worried afterward.
Medvedev, second seed, therefore joined Rafael Nadal, ten times champion in Rome, and the favorite Novak Djokovic on the sidelines.
The only other men to triumph at Foro Italico in the last 19 years are Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev.
Zverevo 3 and champion in 2017, defeated Nuno Borges 6-2, 7-5 and he will face Taylor Fritz in the next round.
Fritz reached the quarter-finals for the first time even though he wasted a match point in the second set. He finally won 6-2, 6-7 (11), 6-1 against Grigor Dimitrov.
Alejandro Tabilo followed up his victory against Djokovic by beating Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10). He thus reached the quarter-finals of a Masters series tournament for the first time in his career.
He will cross swords with Zhang Zhizhen, who beat Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz advanced to his first quarter-final in Rome. He defeated Sebastian Baez 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded sixth, easily defeated Alex de Minaur, seeded ninth, in two sets of 6-1, 6-2.
On the women’s side, world queen Iga Swiatek reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open thanks to a 6-1, 6-3 victory against former finalist Madison Keys on Tuesday.
Swiatek defeated Keys by the same score two weeks ago in the semi-finals of the Madrid tournament.
Keyso 16, wasted each of the ten break points awarded by Swiatek. Frustration got the best of her at one point, slamming her racket against the clay.
During the semi-finals, Swiatek, twice champion in Rome, will cross swords with Coco Gauff, no 3, or Qinwen Zheng, no 7.