ROME – The fans were back at the Foro Italico, the sun was out, and Novak Djokovic's game was clicking. The top-ranked Serb seemed to enjoy every moment of his 6-2, 6-1 win over Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina that put him in the Italian Open quarterfinals.
After spectators were banned from the opening rounds of the Rome tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic, capacity was at 25% on Thursday as part of the Italian government's re-opening plan. “It was not good, it was great,” Djokovic said. “I missed the crowd as much as anybody else — one of the biggest reasons why I keep on playing. "So it was nice to see them back and hopefully I can stay in this tournament an extra day to experience the crowd more and more.