<p>ROME — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic regained his cool after throwing his racket off the court in a grueling, rain-delayed 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 quarterfinal victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Italian Open on Saturday.</p>
<p>Djokovic fought back from breaks of his serve in each of the final two sets to reach his eighth consecutive semifinal at the Foro Italico — where he has lifted the trophy five times, most recently last September when the tournament was moved to later in the year because of the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>Djokovic didn’t have much time to rest before he faces home favorite Lorenzo Sonego later Saturday for a spot in the final.</p>
<p>Sonego was backed by a loud crowd when he rallied past seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first Masters semifinal. Their match was washed out Friday.</p>
<p>Fans were allowed to fill 25% of capacity as part of the Italian government’s reopening plan.</p>
<p>Nine-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal was facing big-serving American Reilly Opelka in the other semifinal.</p>
<p>In the women’s tournament, French Open champion Iga Swiatek beat two-time Rome champion Elina Svitolina 6-2, 7-5 to set up a semifinal later against 17-year-old American Coco Gauff.</p>
<p>Karolina Pliskova was playing Petra Martic in the other semifinal.</p>
<p>The Djokovic-Tsitsipas match began on Friday but was suspended overnight with Tsitsipas leading 2-1 in the second set and up a break — with play having already been interrupted for 3½ hours due to the intermittent rain.</p>
<p>Facing a break point early in the third set, Djokovic attempted a difficult drop shot that landed on top of the net cord and agonizingly bounced back into his side of the court — handing Tsitsipas a 2-1 lead.</p>
<p>Djokovic reacted by throwing his racket angrily into the advertising boards lining the side of the court, which drew a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from the chair umpire.</p>
<p>Djokovic’s temper was also an issue during his second-round match this week against Taylor Fritz, when he fumed at the umpire for not stopping play soon enough due to rain.</p>
<p>Last year, Djokovic was disqualified from the U.S. Open for unintentionally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball.</p>
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<p>Andrew Dampf on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AndrewDampf">www.twitter.com/AndrewDampf</a></p>
