Rome’s iconic Foro Italico clay courts have served up another thrilling chapter at the 2025 Italian Open, 1000-level Masters tournament, as 20-year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic continued his Cinderella run Sunday. Fresh off his career-defining upset of global tennis legend Novak Djokovic in the previous round, Prizmic notched another impressive victory, defeating 31st-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-1, 7-5 to book his spot in the tournament’s final 16.
Prizmic’s dominance from the opening game left Humbert struggling to find his rhythm. The young Croatian blazed to a 5-0 lead in the first set, closing it out in just 28 minutes, with his signature combination of brute power and pinpoint clay-court accuracy. Even with a mid-set playful trick shot between his legs that cost him a single point, Prizmic never looked threatened. Humbert mounted a tighter fight in the second set, but a third break of serve in the 11th game handed Prizmic the momentum he needed to seal the win on his second match point.
Speaking to reporters after his victory on Court Pietrangeli, Prizmic kept his expectations grounded while outlining his long-term goals. “I just want to play my game and to be myself on the court and we will see,” he said. “Maybe for me the goal is to be top 30 at the end of the year but I just want to stay healthy and play as much as I can.”
The run marks Prizmic’s best ever performance at an ATP Masters 1000 event, and the ranking points will lift him 11 spots to world No. 68 when the new rankings are released next Monday, just ahead of the start of the French Open. Up next, Prizmic will face 13th seed Karen Khachanov for a spot in the quarterfinals.
In other men’s draw action, second seed Alexander Zverev, bidding for his third Italian Open title, cruised to a straightforward 6-1, 6-4 win over Belgian youngster Alexander Blockx, even as rain threatened to disrupt play on the centre court. The German, who won the Rome title in 2017 and 2024 and fell to Jannik Sinner in last week’s Madrid Open final, barely broke a sweat against Blockx, who he had already defeated in the Madrid semifinals. Zverev will next face the winner of the match between Tommy Paul and Italy’s home hope Luciano Darderi in the fourth round. Heading into the next match, Zverev acknowledged Prizmic’s breakout run but said he would remain focused on his own game. “There’s a lot of young guys who are playing great tennis. He’s definitely one of them,” Zverev said. “But I’m going to go match by match, I think that’s the most important thing, not to look too far ahead and focus on the things that you can control.” Zverev and Prizmic are drawn in the same half of the bracket, setting up a potential later meeting between the two.
Italian crowd favorite Lorenzo Musetti also advanced to the final 16 after a grueling 7-6(7), 6-4 win over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo. Musetti, who will face clay specialist Casper Ruud next, broke down in tears after the match, telling reporters he had been struggling physically throughout the contest but did not elaborate on his specific ailment. The match featured a combined 81 unforced errors from both players, highlighting the physical toll of clay court competition.
In the women’s draw, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka put on a dominant display to breeze past Russian player Diana Schnaider 6-1, 6-2 in just 54 minutes, putting her one win away from a highly anticipated showdown with three-time Rome champion Iga Swiatek in the last 16. The result equals Osaka’s best performance of a rocky 2025 season, which has seen her knocked out at the third-round stage of both Indian Wells and Madrid by Aryna Sabalenka. With Sabalenka already out of the tournament following a shocking early upset on Saturday, the 15th-seeded Osaka has emerged as a legitimate contender for the Rome title.
Osaka said she is eager for a potential clash with Swiatek, who is set to face Italian wild card Elisabetta Cocciaretto on centre court in front of a partisan home crowd. “For me those matches are the most fun. I’m excited at the thought,” Osaka said. Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, has struggled for form on clay in recent months: she retired from her third-round match in Madrid last month due to a viral illness, suffered an early third-round exit in Rome as defending champion last year, and needed nearly three hours to get past Caty McNally in her opening match this year. She has not won a clay court title since claiming her fourth French Open crown in 2024.