World number four Rafa Nadal has made his way into the quarter-final stage of the Rome Masters. The 30-year-old made it past rising Jack Sock on Thursday. The Spaniard didn't have many problems on the court, losing just seven games, 6-3 6-4.
Nadal opened up an early 3-0 lead and routinely held on to his serve to win the first set. He broke Sock in the first game of the second set, but Sock broke back immediately in the following game. Sock fell apart after taking a 4-3 lead in the set. Nadal went on to win the last three games of the match with only one point lost during the run to seal the win eventually.
Nadal won 29 of 35 of his first serve points and broke the serve of Sock three times in as many attempts. It took an hour and 20 minutes for the clash to come to an end. Nadal has yet to be defeated by Sock; with a 4-0 head-to-head record over the 24-year-old.
Nadal is looking to win yet another title at this year's clay court part of the season. No player has handed a loss to Nadal this season on clay. Seven-time Rome champion Nadal previously made it all the way at the Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Madrid, and at the ATP 500 class tournament in Barcelona.
Querrey paid the price for not realizing his chances
Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem survived a huge scare to progress in the Rome Masters.
The eight-seed was put to work by veteran Sam Querrey on Thursday. Thiem, 23, had to save a couple of match points in order to beat the 29-year-old 3-6 6-3 7-6 (9-7).
Thiem has reached the quarter-final in Rome for the second straight year. The Austrian has also continued his good form on clay this season. He is hoping to reach his third ATP final in a row, having been a finalist in his last two tournaments played: Barcelona and Madrid.
One break of serve was enough for Querrey to take the opener. Thiem then stormed back to take the second set and make it all even at a set apiece. No breaks of serve were seen in the decider as the match went to a tie-break. Thiem, who was down 4-6 and then 6-7 to Querrey in the tie-break, saved the American's match points to prolong his campaign in Italy.
All set for a great clash
Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem are set to meet for the third time in less than 20 days. The two previously met in the finals of the recently played Barcelona Open and Madrid Masters. 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal ended on the winning side against Austria's Thiem on both occasions.
Overall, it will be their sixth matchup. Nadal has collected four wins and a loss thus far in his career against Thiem. World number eight Thiem will certainly be hoping to make amends this week in Rome for his losses in Barcelona and Madrid.