Croatia’s Dino Prizmic continued his breakthrough run at the Italian Open by defeating France’s Ugo Humbert in straight sets on Sunday to book his place in the last 16 of the tournament.
Fresh from his headline-grabbing victory over Novak Djokovic earlier in the competition, the 20-year-old qualifier delivered another composed display, beating 31st seed Humbert 6-1, 7-5 on the clay courts of Rome.
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Prizmic dominated the opening set from the outset, racing to a commanding 5-0 lead before sealing it in just 28 minutes. His aggressive shot-making and confidence left Humbert struggling to settle into the match.
The Croatian’s dominance was evident throughout the first set, where he controlled rallies with precision and power, even attempting a between-the-legs trick shot during one exchange.
Humbert improved significantly in the second set and managed to stay competitive as the match became more balanced. However, Prizmic broke serve in the 11th game before calmly serving out the contest on his second match point.
The latest victory marks Prizmic’s best-ever performance at a Masters 1000 event and is expected to boost his ATP ranking by 11 places to world number 68 ahead of the French Open.
Prizmic will next face Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the fourth round as he looks to extend his impressive campaign.
Elsewhere, second seed Alexander Zverev progressed with a routine 6-1, 6-4 victory over Belgium’s Alexander Blockx. The German remains in pursuit of a third Italian Open title and will next face either Tommy Paul or Luciano Darderi.
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Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti also advanced after overcoming Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 7-6, 6-4 in a physically demanding contest.
In the women’s draw, Naomi Osaka cruised past Diana Shnaider 6-1, 6-2 and could face three-time Rome champion Iga Swiatek in the next round.
World number one Jannik Sinner also began his campaign strongly, defeating Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to claim his 24th consecutive match victory and continue his dominant form heading into the latter stages of the tournament.