Rome (AFP)

If Rafael Nadal passed the obstacle of the quarterfinals on Friday in Rome against Alexander Zverev, the day was complicated for the defending champion Novak Djokovic, suspended against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the world No.1 Ashleigh Barty, injured.

The eagerly awaited quarter-final between "Djoko" and Tsitsipas was suspended until Saturday, interrupted by rain when the Greek was off to a good start (6-4, 2-1).

The match had already been interrupted for the first time for more than 3:30 in the first set.

He was able to resume, the time for Tsitsipas to pocket the first round, before being suspended again after half an hour, offering a reprieve to the Serbian who was not at best.

Recent winner of the Monte-Carlo tournament, the Greek indeed dominated this dotted match.

Confident, he played fair and long, making few mistakes and keeping pace despite the suspension that could have cut off his wings.

Before the first drops, Rafael Nadal, in search of a tenth coronation in Rome, had finally passed a quarter-final this year in Masters 1000, after his failures at this stage in Monte-Carlo and Madrid.

- The American surprise -

The Mallorcan, seeded No.2, offered a resounding revenge on the German Alexander Zverev, who had beaten him in Spain before winning the title.

Much more solid, "Rafa" dictated his law in two sets (6-3, 6-4) and two hours.

After his marathon of nearly 3:30 on Thursday against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, where he had run a lot behind the score, Nadal this time took things in hand quickly and defended perfectly against the German, aggressive but unable to achieve the three break points that would have allowed him to lead 3-1 in the second set.

"The conditions were different from Madrid, I was able to control the game more," said "Rafa", not sorry "to be still there, in good shape" despite the many hours already spent on the courts this week.

The record holder for victories in Rome will meet in the semi-final the American Reilly Opelka (47th), the surprise guest of the last four, endowed with a supersonic service with his giant stature (2.11 m).

In this dark week for American tennis (no player in the World Top 30 for the first time since the creation of the ATP ranking in 1973), this player little formatted for clay dominated the Argentinian Federico Delbonis (64th) 7 -5, 7-6.

Among the women, the favorite continues with the abandonment of world No. 1 Asheigh Barty, victim of pain in her right arm.

- Barty "listens" to his body -

Two weeks before Roland-Garros (May 30-June 13), the Australian preferred to "listen to her body" and give up at the start of the second set, in a quarter that she nevertheless seemed to have well in hand against the American Coco Gauff (6-4, 2-1).

"That's what I hate the most, not being able to finish a tennis match. But the pain was getting too severe," she explained, preferring to preserve her chances of being "100%" on Parisian clay where it won in 2019.

"It's an injury that already existed, a problem that I have already known before, that I had to deal with already in my career. (...) You just have to make the right decision today to know that everything will be fine in two weeks, "she added, considering that she was not helped by the rain which made the bullets heavy.

Dress rehearsal before Roland-Garros, the women's table therefore continues to fall among the favorites, after the eliminations in the second round of Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep (injury) and Serena Williams, then that in the eighth of Aryna Sabalenka.

Coco Gauff, she will not shy away from her chance to play in the semi-finals at only 17 years old, no more than the Czech Karolina Pliskova, still in the running to play her third final in three years (sacred in 2019, beaten in 2020) .

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