Cameron Norrie will be hoping to make it third time lucky when he meets Novak Djokovic in the last 16 of the Italian Open.
The pair have played competitively just twice on tour so far, the 22-time Grand Slam champion winning both matches, including last year’s Wimbledon semi-final.
But Tuesday’s match will be their first meeting on clay following Norrie’s 6-2 7-6 victory over Marton Fucsovics in Rome.
Norrie experienced a late wobble in the third-round match having led by a set and 5-1 before Fucsovics came close to pushing a decider.
Djokovic similarly had his work cut out in his own match against Grigor Dimitrov, which the former world No1 eventually came through 6-3 4-6 6-1.
Following the win at his last warm-up event before the French Open later this month, Djokovic said: “I was very solid. I think I could have won in straight sets. I was a set and 4-2 up and had a pretty decent forehand in the middle of the court at deuce on his serve and missed that.
“He held his serve well, we had new balls the next game, I did a double fault, the crowd got into it and got behind him, and of course the energy of the place and the match changed.
“I dropped my level a bit but luckily I managed to find it right away in the first game of the third set, made that crucial break and kind of shifted the momentum to my side. So, I’m really pleased with the way I closed out the match.”
