1 to Roger Federer as Dominic Thiem ends clay run

“I look at these types of matches, I see a lot of things I should be better at, I should improve at”, Sharapova, languishing down at 52 in the rankings, told reporters.

The two have a solid history and the fifth seed Austrian is the last one to have taken a set from him in the Rome quarter-finals in 2017. But Thiem managed to battle through to the third round in three sets 5-7 6-3 7-5, where he faced Borna Coric. “I lost to him easily in Barcelona”.

“This is how I want to play but maybe it’s not going to be enough so then I have to push more a little bit”. Thiem made the final in this tournament a year ago and is much more comfortable on this surface than the South African. “Today I lost the match”. In the victory, Thiem won 74 percent of his first serve points and 43 percent of his second serve points.

“Very tough match. Especially here on this surface and even more in altitude”. That’s what I’m working on.’ Nadal also said he is not surprised with his loss: ‘At the end I know against who I’m playing. If he plays well, I just need to stop him. “It will be a very tough match to play but it’s a good opportunity to play against one of the best players of the world”.

British number one, Kyle Edmund pulled off major surprise when he upset former World No. 1, Novak Djokovic in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to book a third round match against David Goffin. Del Potro led 4-0 in the final set breaker. ‘I tried to come back. “I had to go for shots and go down the line and everything worked today”. I lost the No. 1 before, but what makes me happy is I feel fit, can compete with possibilities every single week.

“But I have to somehow fight with it”.

Kevin Anderson is coming off a straight sets win over Dusan Lajovic that took 31 games to decide.

Edmund will face 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov, after he bettered Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Canadian clash.

No 2 seed Alexander Zverev has largely flowed under the radar and looked comfortable against Leonardo Mayer, and he will face John Isner once more in a Masters, having been edged for the Miami title by the big-serving American.