Daniil Medvedev, the defending champion, became the latest elite player to withdraw from the Italian Open on Tuesday after losing to American Tommy Paul. The 14th-seeded Paul dominated, winning 6-1, 6-4. The opener lasted only 28 minutes, as Paul broke Medvedev’s serve three times before serving out the set to love.
Medvedev improved significantly in the second set, breaking immediately, but Paul broke right back and never looked back, clinching his place in the quarterfinals when Medvedev fired a backhand long.
Medvedev, the second seed, followed 10-time champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic out of Rome early. Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev are the only other players to win the men’s tournament at the Foro Italico in the last 19 years. Also read: Jannik Sinner To Play In French Open only if 100% fit
The third-seeded Zverev, who won in 2017, defeated Nuno Borges 6-2, 7-5 and will face Taylor Fritz.
Fritz advanced to the men’s quarterfinals for the first time, defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-7 (11), 6-1 despite losing a protracted second-set tiebreaker in which he squandered match chance.
Alejandro Tabilo advanced to the Masters quarterfinals for the first time, defeating Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10) following his dramatic third-round victory over Djokovic. He will take on Zhang Zhizhen, who defeated Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (4), 6-3. Also read: Novak Djokovic Felt Water Bottle Incident Impacted Him During Italian Open Loss