Alexander Zverev is safely into the Italian Open round of 16, where the second seed will take on Arthur Fils.
Zverev has been confused by the balls at the Italian Open, but he has secured passage into the latter stages without dropping a set.
The German is chasing a second ATP title of 2025 and a 25th in his career in Rome, having started out in round two.
Zverev was praised by Dominic Thiem after triumphing at the BMW Open, with Ben Shelton beaten in last month’s final in Munich.
World number two Zverev then fell in the round of 16 at the Madrid Open, with his focus then quickly turning to the Italian Open.
Alexander Zverev backs Vilius Gaubas for rapid ATP rise
He earned a meeting with Fils after overcoming Vilius Gaubas in round three, with that success coming after his second round victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
And Zverev has now tipped his most recent opponent for a bright future, saying of Gaubas on Tennis Channel: “I had no idea who he was to be honest.
“But he is very good. He is very young. He is very talented. He won four matches here, so that says everything about him.
“He is somebody who I think is going to climb up the rankings quite quickly. He is great on this surface. That being said, if he would have been in front of me I would not have known who it was before.
“Of course I do some scouting. I watched the match against Shapo [Denis Shapovalov] which he played fantastically in.
“I really do have respect for these guys coming through small tournaments and qualies as well and playing fantastic tennis.”
Vilius Gaubas career stats so far after Alexander Zverev praise
As Zverev mentioned, Lithuanian Gaubas had played four times in Rome before his clash with the German.
The 20-year-old made it through qualifying before picking up main draw wins over Damir Dzumhur and 27th seed Shapovalov.
But the world number 154 then fell short of a huge upset against the defending champion, who won their clash 6-4, 6-0.
Gaubas reached a career-high rank of 144 last month, with the Lithuanian yet to win a title on the ATP Tour.
Zverev, in contrast, boasts 24 titles at the age of 28, nine of which have arrived on clay, including last year’s Italian Open.
But the three-time Grand Slam finalist now faces a tricky test against Fils, who just knocked out Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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