Thursday 12 May 2016 21:26, UK
Roger Federer's build-up to the French Open suffered another setback after a straight-sets defeat against Dominic Thiem at the Rome Masters.
Rafa Nadal looked like another big name to fall, but he recovered from losing the first set to eventually edge past Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-7(3-7) 6-2 6-4.
World No 1 Djokovic also struggled as he battled past world No 37 Tomaz Belluci in three sets after being 'bagelled' for only the ninth time in his career, winning only eight points in the first set.
Federer has freely admitted he is short of fitness after knee surgery and slumped to a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 defeat against Thiem in the third round of the clay-court tournament.
There had been concerns that Federer would not even appear on court after suggesting he was "far from 100 per cent" fit in the post-match interview following his win over Alexander Zverev.
But the 34-year-old decided to test his fragile body and displayed grit on the red dirt, breaking back to level the opening set.
Thiem, with one clay title to his name already this year, continued to play confidently behind a strong first serve and wrestled back control in the resulting tie-break.
The 22-year-old Austrian resumed his assault on Federer's serve in the second set and broke again for an early lead.
A forlorn Federer could not conjure up a break of his own and defeat would be sealed by a thumping ace from Thiem, who will next face either sixth seed Kei Nishikori or Richard Gasquet.
Federer ruled out any fresh injury problems and remains hopeful he will be fully prepared for this month's Grand Slam event at Roland Garros.
"It doesn't matter how I played," he said. "(What is) important is that I didn't have any setbacks and I was able to step on the tennis court and that I tried what I could with what I had.
"Now obviously time starts ticking more towards Paris. Clearly the way I'm playing right now is never going to be enough for any good run in Paris, and then I also wouldn't play this way. I'm still confident I will be fine somehow."
Next up for Thiem will be sixth seed Kei Nishikori, he is through to the last eight after a hugely impressive 6-1 6-4 victory over France's Richard Gasquet,
The Japanese breezed through the opening ten games before Gasquet came to life, a succession of winners from Nishikori enough to batter the Frenchman into submission and book another Masters quarter-final.
Nishikori reached the semi-final in Madrid after a run to the final in Miami and quarter-final in Indian Wells, his last five defeats coming against Nadal, Novak Djokovic (both twice) and Andy Murray.
Nadal, a seven-time winner in the Italian capital, was given plenty of food for thought during a tight opener that saw hard-hitting Kyrgios, who hit seven aces in the match, secure the first set on a tie-break with a crisp cross-court winner.
But the Spaniard never looked to be really in trouble, and when wayward shots began creeping into Kyrgios's inconsistent game, the Spanish fifth seed took a firm grip.
He broke Kyrgios in the first game of the second set and never looked back on his way to a convincing win that set up a last-eight showdown with Djokovic.
The Serb was in fiery form as he offered animated celebrations when scraping a hold of serve in the first game of the second. He soon settled and eased to a 0-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
