Djokovic comes back from 0-6 to set up QF with Nadal

World number one Novak Djokovic battled his way out of trouble against Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci in the third round at the Italian Open in Rome, beating him 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 late on Thursday to set up a quarter-final clash with Rafael Nadal.

ROME - World number one Novak Djokovic battled his way out of trouble against Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci in the third round at the Italian Open in Rome, beating him 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 late on Thursday to set up a quarter-final clash with Rafael Nadal.

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It was Djokovic's first 6-0 set loss since the Cincinnati final with Federer in 2012 and the ninth time in his career that he lost a set without winning a single game.

But the two sets that followed were a marked contrast to the opener and the Serb managed to set up a quarterfinal meeting with old rival Nadal, who beat Nick Kyrgios in three sets.

The total prize money for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia men's tournament is EUR 3.7 million.

(Telegraf.co.uk / Tanjug)