Zverev and Rublev advance Rome Masters quarterfinal

Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev advanced to the Rome Masters semifinal after good wins on Thursday.

Alexander Zverev was the first to step out on Thursday and he completed a sensational comeback win against Nishikori defeating him 4-6 6-3 6-4. It was a rematch of the match they played a week ago in Madrid and Nishikori proved much tougher to beat. Where took an early 2-0 lead and it seemed like he would cruise past Nishikori once more but the Japanese showed some resilience.

Pulling the break back he started playing a lot better and he was much more comfortable with the windy conditions than Zverev. The German complained about the wind and odd bounces as a way to vent his frustration about losing the opening set 6-4.

The 2nd set featured similar struggles for Zverev as he went a break down early 1-3. Then he loosened up a bit and started to play rallies much aggressively. It proved fruitful as he went on a 5-0 run to close out the 2nd set 6-3. The 3rd set was another odd one as Nishikori went up 4-1 only to surrender another 5-0 run to lose the set and match 6-4.

A great win for Zverev especially in a match he did not play his best tennis. Joining him in the quarterfinal will be Andrey Rublev who rolled past Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard demonstrated sensational tennis in Rome this week but tonight he did not show the same level.

Rublev dominated the match early on taking a double break lead 4-1. Bautista pulled one back but he could not overturn the result so the Russian won it with 6-4. Rublev took an early lead in the 2nd set as well before Bautista pulled it back. At 4-4, the Spaniard collapsed once again giving Rublev the key advantage. The Russian ended it with 6-4.