Watch: When Maria Sharapova beat the Emperor of Clay—Rafael Nadal—on his turf
What the Russian has done will have many tennis fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
What the Russian has done will have many tennis fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
verev beats Fognini to advance
They next face fourth seeded pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
The Indo-Kazakh pair got a walkover from Ukrainians Olga Savchuk and Elina Svitolina in the Round of 16 match.
This is Nishikori's tenth victory in his career against Ferrer, after another win last week in Madrid Open's round of 16.
Kerber's 56-minute knock-out came two days after she was confirmed at the top of the WTA rankings.
In the second round, Carreno will meet the winner in the match between Roberto Bautista Agut and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Ferrer now joins fellow countryman Rafael Nadal (840) to reach the 700 win mark in a table led by American Jimmy Connors.
Defeat in Rome meant the Russian also missed out on a chance to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon.
The Russian is hoping that a good run in Rome will enable her to get an entry into Rolland Garros.
