ATP Tour

Zverev overcomes Blockx once again to advance in Rome

Alexander Zverev got the better of Alexander Blockx for the second time in the space of nine days on Sunday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he overcame the 21-year-old 6-1, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

Last week, Zverev downed the Belgian in straight sets in the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. History repeated itself in Rome, but Zverev will hope the outcome at the end of the event is different in the Italian capital.

The German lost to Jannik Sinner in the championship match in the Spanish capital and is still chasing his first title of the season. The two-time Rome titlist will next meet Luciano Darderi, who rallied past Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for the first time.

"I was much better than I was two days ago," said Zverev, who beat Daniel Altmaier in his Rome opener. "I think it was difficult to play pretty tennis from the baseline today because the conditions were not easy, it was very windy. But overall, I am very happy."

In a dominant first set on Campo Centrale, Zverev had too much for Blockx in the baseline exchanges. The German struck five more winners (8-3) and committed four fewer unforced errors (6-10) to take early control in the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

Zverev was at his best for large periods of the 74-minute encounter, highlighted by a stunning drop volley at 4-3 in the second set. Blockx increased his aggression to provide more resistance in the second set, but Zverev hit cleanly down the middle of the court to cut off the angles and prevail for his 29th win in Rome.

Blockx defeated Federico Cina and Tallon Griekspoor to reach the third round in Rome. The 21-year-old, who advanced to the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals in December, holds a 10-4 tour-level clay-court record this year, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

In other early action, Dino Prizmic backed up his upset win against Novak Djokovic with a victory against 31st seed Ugo Humbert. The 20-year-old Croatian overcame Djokovic for the first Top 10 win of his career on Friday and played with that confidence on his return to court Sunday.

Prizmic moved past Humbert 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for the first time. The three-time ATP Challenger champion is up 11 spots to No. 68 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Casper Ruud maintained his perfect record against Jiri Lehecka with a 6-3, 6-4 win. The Norwegian, who has yet to drop a set in his three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Lehecka, dropped outside the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings after failing to defend his Madrid title last week.

Ruud can return to the Top 20 with a deep run in the Italian capital, where he is a three-time semi-finalist. The 27-year-old will next play eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who fought past Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(7), 6-4.