Novak Djokovic serves the ball to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during their 3rd round match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, May 13, 2021. /CFP
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started, spectators returned to the stands for Rome Masters in Italy, with the Foro Italico venue filled to 25 percent of capacity amid the easing of restrictions.
It turned out to be a massive boost for world number one tennis star Novak Djokovic, who stretched his perfect record of quarter-final showings in Rome and advanced to his 15th quarter-final after swatting aside Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-1.
"It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd," said the five-time Italian Open champion. "It was nice to see them back."
"I thought I played well. He started well and broke my serve in the first game. I made some errors, but I managed to break back right away and establish control and consistency on the court. I think from the back of the court I was just a bit more solid than him, he added.
Djokovic admitted his performance had been "at least 20-30 percent better" than against American Taylor Fritz in his opening match on Tuesday when he threw a tantrum in the middle of the match against the umpire and had been nowhere near his best level.
Next up for Djokovic is Monte-Carlo champion and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who moved past Italian No. 1 and Madrid runner-up Matteo Berrettini 7-6(3), 6-2 on Grand Stand Arena.
Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates defeating Canada's Denis Shapovalov after their match of the Men's Italian Open at Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, May 13, 2021. /CFP
"My next match will be against a Top 10 player, so it is going to be a battle," Djokovic observed. "Tsitsipas won Monte-Carlo... I am obviously going to do my best to win that match."
Despite an early scare, Rafael Nadal also reached the Italian Open quarter-finals after saving two match points to overcome a huge test from Canadian ace Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in three hours and 27 minutes.
Nadal, who is chasing a 10th title in Rome, was in relatively poor form. He was beaten in the Madrid quarter-finals by Alexander Zverev last week and at the same stage in Monte Carlo by Andrey Rublev last month.
"It was a really difficult match, the score was against me almost all the time, but I was there, I was fighting all the time, I didn't give away anything," said the 34-year-old, who takes on Germany's Alexander Zverev for a place in the semi-finals.