ROME — Six-time champion Rafael Nadal overcame one of the worst opening sets of his career to edge Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 Thursday and reach the Italian Open quarterfinals. Meanwhile, top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams each posted straightforward wins. Djokovic beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-4 to improve his clay-court record this season to 8-1 and Williams routed 14th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 6-1 for her 21st consecutive win, matching the best streak of her career. Nadal, however, was far from his best, especially in the first set, in which Gulbis jumped out to a 5-0 lead and even had a point to close out the set at love. But Nadal, who has reached the final in all seven tournaments he has played since returning to the circuit in February from a seven-month break due to a left knee injury, eventually began to win the longer points while the carefree Gulbis started to commit more errors. Still, the performance raises questions about whether Nadal will be able to defend his title at the French Open, the year's second Grand Slam, which starts in 10 days. While Nadal won last week's Madrid Open, he saw his run of eight consecutive titles in the Monte Carlo Masters end last month with a straight-set loss to Djokovic in the final. Nadal said earlier this week that he now trains for about 50 minutes a day compared to two hours a year ago. However, Gulbis had given Nadal trouble before, also taking a set off the Spaniard in four of their previous five meetings, all of which Nadal won. For the first half of this match, the 1.90-meter Gulbis dominated with his big serve and forehand while Nadal struggled with a series of forehand errors. At one point late in the first set, Nadal didn't even move when Gulbis returned his serve within reach. Nadal will next face fourth-seeded David Ferrer, who advanced when Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany withdrew due to dizziness. Djokovic will next face sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, who defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-5, 6-2. Elsewhere at the Foro Italico, two-time champion Jelena Jankovic edged fifth-seeded Li Na of China, 7-6 (2), 7-5 and will next face Romanian qualifier Simona Halep, who beat 13th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-2. The last remaining Italian in the tournament is Errani, who advanced when 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia retired while trailing 6-3, 2-0 with a left knee injury. On Wednesday, Nadal hammered Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3 and Gulbis defeated Serb Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1. Number three Victoria Azarenka was untroubled by Julia Goerges beating the German 6-2, 6-0. — Agencies
