ROME: Iga Swiatek fought past Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last 16 of the Rome Open on Saturday, as Novak Djokovic said he was “fine” to continue his tournament after being hit in the head with a water bottle. World number one Swiatek will next face either Angelique Kerber or Aliaksandra Sasnovich as she bids to become the first person since Serena Williams to claim a third title at the Foro Italico.

Swiatek won the 2021 and 2022 editions before exiting a year ago in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Elena Rybakina, who withdrew with illness on Friday. The 22-year-old came into the event having won the Madrid Open last weekend and will also be gunning for a fourth French Open crown later this month. She made harder work than expected of Saturday’s match after comfortably taking the first set, finding herself 4-1 down and having to save four break points to stop unseeded Puntintseva from serving for the second.

However Swiatek broke back before levelling the set and rattled off five games in a row to take her record against Puntintseva to four wins without dropping a set. Swiatek is one of a host of stars to grace a baking centre court on Saturday, as she will be followed by Rafael Nadal who continues his comeback in a second-round clash with seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz. Nadal has said that he will only play at the French Open, where he has won 14 times, if he feels competitive after a raft of injury problems over the last two years which have left him languishing 305th in the world rankings.

Second seed Daniil Medvedev kicks off his title defense against Briton Jack Draper before women’s third seed Coco Gauff takes on lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian. Four-time Grand Slam champion Noami Osaka has a third-round clash with 10th-seed Daria Kasatkina in the Grand Stand Arena. Osaka is ranked at 173 in the world after taking a break from the tour to have her first child but has looked in good form in straight-set wins over Clara Burel and Marta Kostyuk.

World number one Djokovic’s continued presence in Rome was in doubt on Friday evening after being left crouched on the ground in agony as a bottle struck him on the back of the head while he greeted fans after his second-round win over France’s Corentin Moutet. “Thank you for the messages of concern,” Djokovic wrote Saturday on X, formerly Twitter. “This was an accident and I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack. See you all on Sunday.” Djokovic was later seen arriving for training wearing a cycling helmet. — AFP