Casper Ruud strolled into the Italian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday after easily beating home hope Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-1, as Jannik Sinner gets set for a derby with qualifier Andrea Pellegrino.
Clay court specialist Ruud is yet to drop a set in Rome and he looked in fine form on a windy center court, in stark contrast to eighth seed Musetti who has clearly been struggling physically in Rome.
Musetti was in tears at the end of his third-round win over Francisco Cerundolo and had to take a medical time-out for a problem with his left thigh during the second set against Ruud. The Norwegian, who was destroyed by Sinner in last year’s quarter-finals in Rome, is on the other side of the draw from the world number one and will face either Karen Khachanov or Dino Prizmic in the last eight.
Croatian qualifier Prizmic is bidding to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final after announcing himself on the big stage by knocking out Novak Djokovic in the second round. Sinner will take part in a David v Goliath clash with countryman Pellegrino as he tries to extend his record-breaking run of five Masters 1000 titles.
Pellegrino, 29, is 155th in the world and before this week had never played in the main draw of a top-ranked ATP event. Should Sinner prevail at the Foro Italico, he will be the first Italian to win there since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago, and would complete his collection of Master 1000 tournaments.
With great rival Carlos Alcaraz out injured and Djokovic eliminated early, Sinner will be red-hot favorite as he builds toward completing the career Grand Slam at the French Open which starts next week.