Novak Djokovic crushes Cameron Norrie to succeed in Italian Open quarterfinals for seventeenth straight 12 months

Aiming for his seventh title on the purple clay of the Foro Italico, Djokovic had his total sport clicking after struggling at occasions within the earlier rounds.

On an overcast day after it had rained all morning, Djokovic appeared targeted from the beginning.

“I actually finished my warmup 10 minutes before I went on the court. So I was rushing a bit with everything but we couldn’t (warm up) earlier because of the rain,” Djokovic said. “So I’m just glad to overcome today’s challenge in straight sets and move on.”

Additionally, Djokovic was seen within the coach’s room earlier than the match. He lately took three weeks off due to a lingering situation along with his surgically repaired proper elbow.

“Every day is something,” the 35-year-old Djokovic stated, with out specifying what was bothering him. “But thankfully I was able to play and finish the match, so hopefully tomorrow it will feel a bit better.”

Early within the second set after the gamers traded breaks to make it 2-2, Djokovic appeared livid with Norrie.

Djokovic had already turned along with his again to the web within the middle of the court docket to concede a break level when Norrie’s overhead smash hit him within the physique. Djokovic then circled and glared at Norrie, who had already raised his hand to apologize.

Then after Djokovic broke for a 5-4 lead within the second and was getting ready to serve out the match, Norrie requested for a medical timeout and had his aspect handled on court docket by a coach.

Djokovic dedicated much less half as many unforced errors as Norrie, 14-29; and had two extra winners, 21-19.

Norrie received a title on clay in Rio de Janeiro earlier this 12 months, beating Carlos Alcaraz within the closing.

Djokovic will lose the No. 1 rating to Alcaraz after this event — despite the fact that Alcaraz was overwhelmed by One hundred and thirty fifth-ranked Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan within the third spherical on Monday.

Alcaraz will subsequently be seeded No. 1 and Djokovic might be No. 2 on the French Open, which begins in 12 days.

Djokovic will subsequent face both seventh-seeded Holger Rune or Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin, who had been enjoying on the Grandstand.

Later, native hope Jannik Sinner was to play Francisco Cerundolo in the identical half of the draw as Djokovic

In girls’s motion afterward Campo Centrale, two-time defending Rome champion Iga Swiatek was scheduled to play Donna Vekic.

This story has been printed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content. Solely the headline has been modified.