ROME: Dino Prizmic followed up knocking out Novak Djokovic from the Italian Open by beating France’s Ugo Humbert 6-1, 7-5 on Sunday to reach the last 16 in Rome.

Prizmic had to qualify for the main draw but the Croatian player looks like he could be a contender after another brilliant display of power and precision on clay.

The 20-year-old raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set, which he closed out in just 28 minutes against a shellshocked Humbert, who was seeded 31st.

Such was Prizmic’s dominance in the first set that he could even afford to try a trick shot between his legs and give up a point in game six.

Humbert battled back in the second set but after he gave up his serve for the third time in game 11 Prizmic closed out on his second match point.

After his superb performance on the Pietrangeli court, Prizmic will face 13th seed Karen Khachanov in the next round.

As it stands Prizmic will already be up 11 places to 68th come Monday week, just before the start of the French Open, after his best ever performance in a Master 1000 tournament.

Alexander Zverev kept up his bid for a third title at the Foro Italico with a straight-sets win over Alexander Blockx, 6-1, 6-4 on centre court where the threat of rain looms large.

Second seed Zverev, who was heavily beaten by Jannik Sinner in the Madrid final last weekend, will face one of Tommy Paul or Italy’s Luciano Darderi in the fourth round.

He barely had to get out of second gear against Blockx, who was beaten in the Madrid semis by Zverev.

The German, who won the men’s singles title in the Italian capital in 2017 and 2024, is on the same side of the draw as Prizmic.

Home hope Lorenzo Musetti will face clay court specialist Casper Ruud in the last 16 after winning a tough match with Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.

Musetti was in tears at the end of a clash which featured 81 unforced errors, and told Sky Sport that it wasn’t right physically without specifying what was wrong.

Naomi Osaka could face three-time Rome champion Iga Swiatek in the last 16 of the women’s tournament after easily seeing off Diana Schnaider 6-1, 6-2.

The four-time Grand Slam winner beat her Russian opponent in just 54 minutes to equal her best result of a difficult season in which she was knocked out of Indian Wells and Madrid at the same stage by Aryna Sabalenka.

But with Sabalenka suffering a shock early elimination on Saturday, 15th seed Osaka could yet be a contender.

In Saturday’s late action, Jannik Sinner got his campaign underway by swatting aside Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to start his bid to extend a record-breaking run of five straight Masters 1000 tournament victories.

The world number one delighted fans in the packed centre court stands with a predictably dominant display which left Austria’s Ofner little room to breathe, even in the breezy atmosphere of Rome.

Sinner won his 24th consecutive match in one hour and 40 minutes, the 24-year-old barely breaking a sweat to set up a clash with Alexei Popyrin or Jakub Mensik in the third round.

No Italian man has won at the Foro Italico since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago, and with Carlos Alcaraz out of action, Sinner is expected to go one better than last year when he lost the final to his great rival.

It was the third win for an Italian man on Saturday, with Flavio Cobolli, who helped his country win last year’s Davis Cup in Sinner’s absence, beating France’s Terence Atmane 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.

Mattia Bellucci, ranked 64 in the world, is in the fourth round after a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over 24th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Former winner Daniil Medvedev will begin his campaign in the third round after his match, which was scheduled to be the first on centre court, was shelved when his opponent Tomas Machac pulled out of the tournament with an unspecified illness.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2026