Intro:

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both recover from losing their opening sets to reach the quarter finals of the Italian Open.

Script:

The third round of the Italian Open continued on Thursday with 6th seed Tomas Berdych taking on 12th seed Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter finals.

Berdych edged a tight first set, taking the tie break 7-3.

But from there, he faltered and Dimitrov took full advantage.

The Bulgarian swept through the next two sets for the loss of just four games, creating match point with a superb diving volley before converting it with an ace for a 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-2 win and a place in the final eight.

Fifth seed David Ferrer enjoyed a far more routine victory.

For the second straight week, he powered past Ernests Gulbis winning their encounter 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarter finals.

Ferrer also won their meeting in the quarter finals of the Madrid Open earlier this month.

Next up, top seed Rafael Nadal faced Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

In 14 previous matches between the pair, Youzhny had won just four.

However he took the first set 7-4 in the tie-break after Nadal squandered a 5-3 lead.

The Spaniard hit back after the first set loss winning 10 of the next 11 games to complete an emphatic 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1 victory after two hours and 44 minutes on court.

Two time Rome Champion Novak Djokovic took on Philipp Kohlschreiber in his third round match.

Djokovic, the second seed, paid a heavy price for making a slow start as Kohlschreiber took the first set 6-4.

He got back on track over the second and third sets, losing just three more games to take a 4-6 6-2 6-1 win and reach the quarter finals.