<p>ROME — The fans were back at the Foro Italico, the sun was out, and Novak Djokovic’s game was clicking.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>"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. They definitely gave me great sensations today on the court and I enjoyed it.”</p>
<p>Djokovic often trains with Davidovich Fokina in Marbella, Spain. Perhaps that familiarity helped Davidovich Fokina break the top-ranked Djokovic in the opening game.</p>
<p>But Djokovic broke right back and quickly took control.</p>
<p>A five-time champion in Rome — with his last title coming in September when the tournament was moved amid the pandemic — Djokovic is looking to boost his clay-court game before the French Open starts at the end of the month.</p>
<p>It’s been a rough start to the clay season for Djokovic with a third-round loss to Daniel Evans at the Monte Carlo Masters followed by a defeat to Aslan Karatsev in the semifinals of his home tournament, the Belgrade Open.</p>
<p>Djokovic said he played “at least 20-30% better” than he did against Taylor Fritz in his opening match in Rome.</p>
<p>“So I’m on a good trajectory," he said. "And hopefully tomorrow will be even better.”</p>
<p>Djokovic will next face either Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas or Madrid Open finalist Matteo Berrettini — both top-10 players.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be a battle,” Djokovic said. "Both of these guys are in great form.”</p>
<p>Also reaching the quarterfinals was 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) American Reilly Opelka, who eliminated Karatsev, an Australian Open semifinalist, 7-6 (6), 6-4.</p>
<p>Opelka served 18 aces and won 52 of 69 points on his serve to record his third consecutive straight-set win this week — after entering Rome on a six-match losing streak that included dealing with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fl-state-wire-europe-tennis-health-coronavirus-pandemic-924e209a8761ad45ba54fcc9b6f083fa">a bout of COVID-19</a>.</p>
<p>In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Ash Barty beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-3 and will next face American teenager Coco Gauff, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-3.</p>
<p>Sabalenka, who overcame Barty in the Madrid Open final on Saturday, committed more than twice as many unforced errors as Gauff — 36 to 17.</p>
<p>It’s the fourth time this season that the 17-year-old Gauff has reached the quarterfinals.</p>
<p>Jessica Pegula, another American, followed up her victory over Naomi Osaka by eliminating Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-4.</p>
<hr />
<p>More AP Tennis: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/tennis">https://apnews.com/hub/tennis</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a></p>
<hr />
<p>Andrew Dampf on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AndrewDampf">www.twitter.com/AndrewDampf</a></p>
