Newly crowned Madrid Open champion Alexander Zverev survived a scare against Kei Nishikori at the ATP Italian Open on Thursday. The sixth seed was outplayed 6-4 in the opening set by the world number 45 before recovering to take the second set 6-3. Nishikori then advanced to a 4-2 lead in the decider, but Zverev came back strongly once again to win four straight games and the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The German will play clay court master Rafael Nadal in the last eight.