JUST two ATP Tour matches were completed in a ran-affected day of action, with Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas holding a nerve-wracking lead over world number one Novak Djokovic, and seventh seed Russian Andrey Rublev and unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego yet to go out on court.

When the rain halted play, the Greek talent had the advantage over Djokovic, not only having won a set, but was a break up to head into the night knowing that if there was one person who could benefit from a night’s rest, it is likely the world number one. Not only does the delay mean the match has to be completed today, but will mean double duties for the winner, as well as the winner of Rublev and Sonego who have not even served a ball yet.

In the matches that were completed, world number two and King of Clay Rafael Nadal got a huge boost with a straight sets win over sixth seed German Alexander Zverev. After Zverev toppled him in Madrid, Nadal made sure lightning did not strike twice, claiming a straight sets win over his opponent, 6-3 6-4 to advance through to the semi-finals.

“[I am] happy. I played a very solid match with not many mistakes, playing the way that I have to,” Nadal said post-match. “[It is] an important victory for me against a great player.”

Nadal is a nine-time champion in Rome, and if he was to make it all the way through and claim a double-figure amount of titles on the Italian clay, then he would equal Djokovic’s 36 ATP Masters 1000 crowns, an achievement he had hold of prior to the Serbian catching up. Now the Spaniard takes on unseeded American Reilly Opelka, who managed to get the job done against Argentinian qualifier Federico Delbonis, 7-5 7-6.

“[I will face] a big chance against a player who has almost an unreturnable serve. [Reilly] is playing well,” Nadal said. “I need to be very focussed with my serve and then try to be ready to accept [the situation] and be [engaged] on the return. That is what I am looking for.”

Opelka needed one hour and 41 minutes to win over Delbonis in the first match of the day, and will enter his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final. The big serving American produced 18 aces in the match, and has been in red-hot form on serve all tournament to book a spot in the final four of the Rome Masters,.

“I’ve definitely served well. I hit my spots really well today, especially in big moments,” Opelka said post-match. “I think that has been critical. I have stayed calm [and on] big points, I have delivered.”

ROME MASTERS 1000 QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[5] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) leads [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4 2-1
[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) defeated [6] Alexander Zverev (GER) 6-3 6-4
[7] Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs. Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)
Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated [Q] Federico Delbonis (ARG) 7-5 7-6

Picture credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour