Alexander Zverev continued his Italian Open title defence by cruising past qualifier Vilius Gaubas and reaching the last 16, as Aryna Sabalenka progressed with a battling 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Sofia Kenin.

Zverev barely broke a sweat on centre court against Gaubas, easing to a 6-4, 6-0 win to set up a last-16 clash with France’s Arthur Fils.

The world No 2 took one hour 26 minutes to see off Gaubas, suggesting that the burn-out he said he was suffering earlier in the year might be behind him.

But he will face a much tougher test against Fils, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, than the one put up by Gaubas.