ROME: The curse of the defending champion struck again for Daniil Medvedev.

The second-seeded Medvedev has never successfully defended a title and he failed again on Tuesday as he lost 6-1, 6-4 to American Tommy Paul to become the latest top player to crash out of the Italian Open.

“It’s disappointing, to be honest,” said Medvedev, who has won 20 tour-level titles. “I wanted to do better here. I was not even close. What can I say? The more titles I win, the more chances I have to defend.

“So the more tournaments in a year I’m going to play where I already won, maybe not defend, but at least win twice the same tournament, that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

The opener lasted just 28 minutes as the 14th-seeded Paul broke Medvedev on all three of his service games and then served out the set to love.

“Was a tough one. Mentally I had to be much better,” Medvedev said. “I started to calm myself down and focus on the match only at the end of the match, and it was too late. I had to do better. I was expecting myself to play better.”

Medvedev improved slightly in the second set when he broke immediately but Paul broke straight back and never looked back, securing his spot in the quarterfinals when Medvedev sent a backhand long.

The second-seeded Medvedev followed 10-time champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic with early exits in Rome.

The only other players to have won the men’s tournament at the Foro Italico in the past 19 years are Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev.

The third-seeded Zverev, who won in 2017, eased past Nuno Borges 6-2, 7-5 and will face Taylor Fritz.

Fritz reached the men’s quarterfinals for the first time after recovering from losing a lengthy second-set tiebreaker — during which he let slip match point — to see off Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-7 (11), 6-1.

Alejandro Tabilo backed up his stunning third-round win against Djokovic by edging Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10) to reach a Masters quarterfinal for the first time. He will face Zhang Zhizhen, who ousted Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Paul will play Hubert Hurkacz after the seventh seed — who eliminated Nadal in the second round — beat Sebastian Baez 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4. The other quarterfinal pits Stefanos Tsitsipas against Nicolas Jarry.

In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Iga Swiatek reached the final four when she swept aside former finalist Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3 with the same score she achieved against the American in the Madrid semifinals two weeks ago.

The 16th-ranked Keys grew more frustrated at her inability to convert break points — racking up 10 without converting a single one — and at one point hit her racket against the clay.

Swiatek won the Madrid Open and is attempting to become the first player to win the “dirt double” since Serena Williams and Nadal both did so in 2013.

The two-time champion will next face third-seeded Coco Gauff after the American beat Qinwen Zheng 7-6 (4), 6-1.

BOCCA DELLA SELVA, Italy: Valentin Paret-Peintre won the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, claiming the honors on the Bocca della Selva summit finish while Tadej Pogacar maintained his overall lead.

Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider Paret-Peintre earned on the Italian Grand Tour his first ever professional win, finishing the 142 kilometer stage from Pompei ahead of fellow Frenchman Romain Bardet and Visma rider Jan Tratnik.

The 23-year-old follows in the footsteps of his elder brother Aurelien, who won a stage on the Giro last year and finished fifth on Tuesday, one minute and 25 seconds behind his sibling.

The pair shared a brotherly hug after the stage before the younger Paret-Peintre spoke to media.

“I can’t describe what I feel now, it’s just amazing. I was there to get a good result in the stage and why not win?” he said.

Paret-Peintre finished 29 seconds ahead of Bardet who has jumped up the general classification after gaining nearly three minutes on the day.

Bardet now stands in seventh at 4min 57sec, which is two minutes adrift of Geraint Thomas in third.

Bardet, who is 10 years Paret-Peintre’s senior, is just under five minutes behind pink jersey wearer Pogacar, who had a relatively quiet day and maintained his healthy lead over main rivals Dani Martinez and Thomas.

“I watched him [Bardet] when I was young, when he finished on the podium of the Tour de France,” added Paret-Peintre.

“I dreamed of seeing him one day, and today I battled with him and I beat him.”

Paret-Peintre won the stage after being part of the day’s big breakaway which at its height was some 30 riders strong.

He worked with Bardet on the final climb before attacking 3km from the finish to blaze past Visma-Lease a Bike rider Tratnik, who had tried to go it alone some time before but run out of legs just as the race came to its climax.

“I think 4km to go, 3km to go, I started to feel a bit of weakness in my legs,” said Tratnik.

“I look behind and they pass me with double speed and then for me it was just a battle to the finish line. In the end, third place we can be happy.”

Wednesday’s 11th stage takes the peloton 207km from Foiano di Val Fortore to Francavilla al Mare on the Adriatic coast, where the sprinters should have a chance to shine.