Also on Tuesday, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarters at the expense of Croatia's Donna Vekic (24th) 6-3, 6-4. The Pole will meet the Kazakh Elena Rybakina (6th), against whom she lost in their two confrontations this year, in the eighth-finals at the Australian Open and in the semis at Indian Wells, to try to reach the last four of the Roman tournament of which she is double titleholder.

Djokovic put Britain's Cameron Norrie (6th) back in his place 3-6, 4-13 who touched him on a smash. For his part, Rune (7th) took more than three hours to overcome Australian Alexei Popyrin (77th) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

"It's been six-eight months that he plays very good tennis, that he has established himself among the best players. He is in the Top 10 and he deserves it," Djokovic said of his next opponent who expects "a big challenge, and a very physical match".

Precisely, Rune hopes to have "recovered physically" in order to be able to "play (his) best tennis" to have a chance against the man with 22 Grand Slam titles.

Poland's Iga Swiatek beats Croatia's Donna Vekic in the knockout rounds of the Rome Masters 1000 on May 16, 2023 in Rome © Tiziana FABI / AFP

In the calves

The Serb, who will cede his No. 1 throne to Carlos Alcaraz on Monday no matter what, played his 77th match in Rome, equalling Nadal's record, which he will break by facing Rune. He also reached the quarters at the Foro Italico for the 17th time in as many appearances and won all six finals played in the Italian capital, the last of which was in 2022.

On the contrary, Rune participates for the first time at 20 years old in the main draw of this last major tournament before Roland-Garros (May 28-June 11).

"I love playing here," Djokovic said after qualifying. This tournament comes at the right time for me, when I want to be able to raise my level of play in order to be ready for Roland Garros."

Against Norrie (13th), Djokovic dominated by being more solid than sparkling, he who has played very little this year after his title at the Australian Open and who is struggling to recover from an elbow injury.

Denmark's Holger Rune against Australia's Alexei Popyrin in the knockout stages of the Rome Masters 1000 on May 16, 2023 in Rome © Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

Above all, the Briton committed a crime of lèse majesté, in the eyes of the Serb, by smashing in his calves while he turned his back on him.

At the next change of side and during several games, Djokovic looked at his opponent with a black look, signaling that the small gesture of the hand to apologize was not a sufficient request for forgiveness.

He got no more and only gave his opponent an icy handshake.

"Fire to the powder"

"I looked at the pictures. Yup, maybe we can say he didn't hit me voluntarily. I don't know if he saw me," commented an unconvinced Djoker.

"In his field of vision, you can always see where the other player is on the court. The ball was super slow and very close to the net. I turned because I knew I had lost the point," he added.

And to explain that his annoyance was latent and that this event had only been the trigger of his anger: "He set fire to the powder, I only responded. I will not allow anyone to behave like this hoping that I lower my head, "hammered the Djoker.

Icy handshake in Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie after their eighth final at the Masters 1000 in Rome on May 16, 2023 in Rome © Tiziana FABI / AFP

"He took a medical timeout (just before Djokovic served for the match) and he has the right to do so. He has the right to touch a player, he has the right to say +c'mon+ (come on, editor's note) by looking at me almost at every point and this, from the first game of the match. It's not fair play, but it's allowed...", he listed.

© 2023 AFP