Alex de Minaur wins into fourth round of Madrid Open as Novak Djokovic pulls out of Italian Open

Alex de Minaur has charged into the fourth round of the Madrid Open with a powerful performance as electricity returned to Spain.

The Australian number one took fewer than 90 minutes to defuse the big-serving Canadian Denis Shapovalov with a straight-sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win on Court Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Sixth seed de Minaur and Shapovalov were due to play last on Monday night but their match was one of the 22 postponed after the Iberian peninsula was hit by a blackout.

The pair returned to the same arena to open Tuesday's play, and de Minaur was soon flowing. He broke in the fifth game of the first set after Shapovalov double-faulted on break point, and again in the ninth, closing out the set with a love game.

The second set went to a tie-break, but de Minaur took that easily to draw level with Carlos Alcaraz with a tour-leading 24th win of the season.

"He's got tremendous firepower from every part of the court, and I had to do my best to neutralise it and not let him dictate as much as he could," said de Minaur, who has won all five matches with Shapovalov.

De Minaur is now into his fifth consecutive Masters 1000 last 16 and will next face Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

In a boilover, world number 21 Francisco Cerundolo defeated top seed and two-time Madrid winner Alexander Zverev 7-5, 6-3.

But it was perhaps not such a shock as the Argentine beat Zverev at the same stage last year and has now won all three of their meetings.

Grigor Dimitrov also advanced. He had been 6-4, 5-4 up against Jacob Fearnley when the power went out with the Briton about to serve to stay in the set.

He did so successfully when play resumed but the Bulgarian won the tie-break for a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory.

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Americans Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe also won on a morning when there were a few teething problems following the power outage.

Other winners included teenager Jakub Mensic, Canada's lucky loser Gabriel Diallo, who beat a subpar Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Jack Draper, who progressed after Matteo Berrettini retired when a set down.

The blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill, knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines.

At the Madrid Open players had to eat by candlelight and Brazilian doubles player Fernando Romboli, who was partnering Australia's John-Patrick Smith, had to be rescued after getting stuck in a lift.

It was not ideal preparation and the duo lost their match on Tuesday 6-0, 6-3 to Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.

Djokovic pulls out of Italian Open amid losing streak

Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Italian Open on Tuesday in the midst of a three-match losing streak, shedding doubt on how well he will be able to play at the upcoming French Open as he continues to seek a record 25th Grand Slam trophy and 100th tournament title overall.

The clay-court event in Rome, which will be held next month, posted on social media that Djokovic would not be participating and wrote: "See you next year, Nole," referring to the 37-year-old Serbian star by his nickname.

Djokovic has struggled this season, going just 12-6 and dropping his past three contests in a row — at the Miami Open, the Monte Carlos Masters and, on Saturday, at the Madrid Open.

After losing to Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-4 in Spain, Djokovic said: "It's a completely different feeling from what I had in 20-plus years of professional tennis. It's a challenge for me mentally to really face these kinds of sensations on the court, going out early now regularly in tournaments."

Djokovic has repeatedly said that what now matters to him is adding to his major championships. The next such event begins in Paris on May 25.

He had to withdraw during last year's tournament at Roland Garros because of a knee injury that required surgery. Djokovic also stopped during the Australian Open this January because of a torn hamstring muscle.

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