Defending champion Daniil Medvedev suffered a surprising defeat at the Italian Open, losing to American Tommy Paul in straight sets. The 14th-seeded Paul showcased a dominant performance, securing a 6-1, 6-4 victory over the second-seeded Medvedev.
The match saw Paul breaking Medvedev's serve three times in the opening set, which lasted a mere 28 minutes. Despite a brief improvement from Medvedev in the second set with an early break, Paul quickly regained control and sealed the win when Medvedev sent a backhand long.
Medvedev's early exit adds him to the list of top players who have been eliminated from the tournament, joining Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The only other recent winners of the men's event in Rome are Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev, who advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Nuno Borges.
Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz secured his spot in the quarterfinals after a hard-fought victory over Grigor Dimitrov, bouncing back from losing a lengthy second-set tiebreaker. Alejandro Tabilo continued his impressive run by defeating Karen Khachanov to reach his first Masters quarterfinal, where he will face Zhang Zhizhen, who overcame Thiago Monteiro.
