Prizmic follows up on Djokovic exploit by reaching Italian Open last 16

Dino Prizmic reached the last 16 of the Italian Open on Sunday (Filippo MONTEFORTE)

(Filippo MONTEFORTE/AFP/AFP)

Dino Prizmic followed up knocking out Novak Djokovic from the Italian Open by beating France's Ugo Humbert 6-1, 7-5 on Sunday to reach the last 16 in Rome.

Prizmic had to qualify for the main draw but the Croatian player looks like he could be a contender after another brilliant display of power and precision on clay.

The 20-year-old raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set, which he closed out in just 28 minutes against a shellshocked Humbert, who was seeded 31st.

Such was Prizmic's dominance in the first set that he could even afford to try a trick shot between his legs and give up a point in game six.

Humbert battled back in the second set but after he gave up his serve for the third time in game 11 Prizmic closed out on his second match point.

After his superb performance on the Pietrangeli court Prizmic will face 13th seed Karen Khachanov in the next round.

"I just want to play my game and to be myself on the court and we will see," Prizmic later told reporters.

"Maybe for me the goal is to be top 30 at the end of the year but I just want to stay healthy and to play as much as I can."

As it stands Prizmic will already be up 11 places to 68th come Monday week, just before the start of the French Open, after his best ever performance in a Master 1000 tournament.

• Zverev eases through -

Alexander Zverev kept up his bid for a third title at the Foro Italico with a straight-sets win over Alexander Blockx, 6-1, 6-4 on centre court where the threat of rain looms large.

Second seed Zverev, who was heavily beaten by Jannik Sinner in the Madrid final last weekend, will face one of Tommy Paul or Italy's Luciano Darderi in the fourth round.

He barely had to get out of second gear against Blockx, who was beaten in the Madrid semis by Zverev.

The German, who won the men's singles title in the Italian capital in 2017 and 2024, is on the same side of the draw as Prizmic.

"There's a lot of young guys who are playing great tennis. He's definitely one of them," he said.

"But I'm going to go match by match, I think that's the most important thing, not to look too far ahead and focus on the things that you can control."