World number two Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-final stage of the Rome Masters. The tennis player from Serbia didn't let Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut make any surprise moves in their round-of-16 clash. The number two seed prevailed over the 29-year-old in straight sets: 6-4 6-4.
One break of serve in the first set, which occurred in the seventh game, was enough for Djokovic to seal the opener. The 12-time Grand Slam champion won the last three games of the match to take the following set and the clash eventually. The 29-year-old Serbian converted 3-of-7 of his break-point chances in the match.
Djokovic fired nine aces in an hour and 41 minutes of play. He holds a convincing head-to-head record over Bautista Agut at 6-1. Djokovic hasn't dropped a set in his two opening matches at the Italian tournament, beating Great Britain's Aljaz Bedene previously.
Next up: his old rival
Argentinean tennis player Juan Martin del Potro is having a promising campaign at this week's Rome Masters. The Argentine out-classed world number nine Kei Nishikori more easily than expected. The 28-year-old handed a straight sets defeat to the top-ranked Japanese player 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Del Potro won the last three points of the first set tie-break to win the opener. He opened up an early 4-1 lead in the next set and never looked back.
It was del Potro's fifth win over Nishikori at the ATP level.
It doesn't get any easier for del Potro going forward. After competing against flashy Grigor Dimitrov, rising Kyle Edmund, and, most recently, Nishikori this week in Rome, the Argentine is now set to meet Novak Djokovic next. It is all set for an 18th encounter between the two.
The head-to-head record favors Djokovic, who has a 13-4 win/loss record against the 2009 US Open champion.
Raonic heating up
Fifth seed Milos Raonic will also be featured in the last-eight stage of the Rome Masters. The 2016 Wimbledon semifinalist lost just five games against Czech Tomas Berdych, 6-3 6-2. The match itself was not as dramatic as it was expected to be.
Raonic, 26, had a day on his first serve. He hit six ace shots and won 27 of 28 (96%) points played behind his first serve. The Canadian also converted each of his three break-point chances, while giving his opponent no such opportunity. Raonic has a 5-2 head-to-head record over Berdych after their latest encounter. Next up for him will be extremely talented Alexander Zverev, who defeated Italy's Fabio Fognini in the last-16 stage.
