ROME: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was furious with the chair umpire for not suspending play as rain trickled down during his Italian Open second-round match but advanced against American Taylor Fritz yesterday.
The 33-year-old Serbian star made his feelings clear after he was broken when serving for victory in the second set. “How much do you wanna play?” Djokovic yelled at umpire Nacho Forcadell. “I asked you three times; you are not checking anything.”
The match was eventually suspended for three hours before Djokovic secured a 6-3 7-6 (5) win.
Chasing a sixth title in Rome, Djokovic will play the winner of the match between Britain’s Cameron Norrie and Spanish player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the round of 16.
American player Reilly Opelka won his second straight match – beating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to reach the round of 16.
Earlier, ninth-seeded Matteo Berrettini rallied to beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego is also through to the second round after celebrating his birthday by beating 14th-seededGael Monfils 6-4 5-7 6-4.
In the women’s bracket, Madison Keys defeated Sloane Stephens 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Three seeded players were upset – No. 10 Belinda Bencic (6-3, 6-4 by Kristina Mladenovic), No. 14 Elise Mertens (4-6, 6-2, 6-3 byVeronika Kudermetova) and No. 16 Johanna Konta (3-6, 1-6 by Jelena Ostapenko).