Alexander Zverev sees off dogged Kyle Edmund to reach last eight in Rome

Defending champion Alexander Zverev survived an epic second set tie-break to beat Kyle Edmund 7-5 7-6 (13/11) and reach the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

British number one Edmund, who had failed to take two set points, saved seven match points before Zverev closed out victory in just under two hours.

It was the German’s 11th consecutive victory after recent successes on the clay courts of Munich and Madrid.

Zverev will next play Belgium’s David Goffin, who progressed after fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro retired with a groin injury.

The Argentinian did not appear comfortable at any point in the match and went off court for a medical time-out early in the second set.

Initially that seemed to adversely affect Goffin but, after missing a set point, Del Potro decided he could no longer continue and shook hands trailing 2-6 5-4.

The 29-year-old will hope to recover in time for the French Open, which begins on May 27.

Rafael Nadal subdued the precocious talent of Denis Shapovalov to reach the last eight.

Shapovalov went into the match with a winning record against Nadal after beating him on home soil in Canada last summer but the Spaniard on clay is, of course, a very different proposition and he ultimately eased to a 6-4 6-1 victory.

There were plenty of the eye-catching shots that make 19-year-old Shapovalov such an exciting prospect as he saved eight break points in his first two service games, but Nadal broke for 4-3 and thereafter was in control.

Shapovalov not surprisingly began to look tired in the second set after his run to the Madrid semi-finals last week and battling victories over Tomas Berdych and Robin Haase in the first two rounds here and could not live with the relentlessness of Nadal.

In the last eight Nadal will face another flashy player in Italian Fabio Fognini, who delighted the home crowd with a 6-4 6-4 win against Peter Gojowczyk.

Tenth seed Pablo Carreno Busta recovered from a second-set wobble to beat Aljaz Bedene 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-2.

Novak Djokovic maintained his record of never having lost a set to Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas with a 7-5 6-1 victory, while Kei Nishikori eased through 6-1 6-2 against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Fourth seed Marin Cilic completed the quarter-final line-up by overcoming Benoit Paire 6-3 6-4.