Jannik Sinner outlasts Daniil Medvedev in Italian Open semis despite ailing in second set, rain postponement in third

Daniil Medvedev has struggled mightily on clay during his career. The Russian was notoriously blanked 6-0, 6-0 in Monte Carlo last month. On his way to an early exit from that ATP Masters 1000 event, the former world No. 1 drew ire and received a fine for smashing his racket seven times in a contest that lasted all of 49 minutes.

But on Friday, against the current world No. 1, Medvedev found himself playing much longer in Rome, on the very surface that’s caused him so much trouble over the years. The 30-year-old Medvedev, seeded seventh in the Italian Open, gave top-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner everything he could handle in the semifinals.

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Medvedev forced a third set, threatening Sinner’s 32-match win streak in Masters 1000 events — a record-breaking mark he set on Thursday, surpassing Serbian great Novak Djokovic — and, by extension, jeopardizing Sinner’s similarly trail-blazing streak of five consecutive Masters 1000 titles.

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Ultimately, Sinner escaped unscathed in a match that saw him physically taxed, bent over and taking a medical timeout in the third set. After all of that, play was suspended due to rain in the seventh game of that fateful set. Following a postponement, Sinner, already up 4-2, finished off Medvedev on Saturday after 15 minutes, advancing to the final, thanks to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 triumph.

Sinner is now one win away from becoming the first Italian to claim the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta accomplished the feat in 1976. Sinner also reached the event’s final last year but fell to rival Carlos Alcaraz, who notably is sidelined at the moment by a wrist injury that will keep him out of the French Open as well.

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Sinner will face Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final on Sunday. Rudd, seeded 23rd, overcame a rain delay and defeated 18th-seeded Italian Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-1 on Friday. With an elusive victory in his proverbial backyard, Sinner would become the first man to complete a season sweep of the clay Masters 1000 events since Spanish legend Rafael Nadal in 2010. Plus, he will have won all nine Masters tournaments before turning 25. As of now, Djokovic is the only man to win each of them, although he reached that milestone at 31, according to The Athletic.

Sinner’s fast start, followed by his arduous second set

Sinner took the first set 6-2 on Friday, but Medvedev used an early break in the second to get ahead. That’s when things got interesting.

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Sinner toiled through clear discomfort. He was ailing, and Medvedev was exacerbating the effects by winning rallies. The Russian’s drop shots, in particular, disrupted Sinner’s rhythm.

Sinner forced a 5-5 tie late in the second set. But Medvedev kept the pressure on, noticeably blowing through his service points, perhaps to keep a tired Sinner on his toes. Once Medvedev took a 6-5 lead, he broke Sinner again, this time triggering a third set. He used a backhand winner to set the stage for that final set.

Sinner’s resurgence, his medical timeout and a rain postponement

Before that second-set setback, Sinner had won 65 of his last 67 sets at Masters 1000 events.

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He responded.

In the third game of the third set, he broke Medvedev, who whiffed while trying to return a tough bounce midway through that pivotal game. After swinging the momentum back to his side, Sinner pumped his fist and let out a roar to the tune of a delighted crowd at the Foro Italico.

Sinner turned a 2-1 advantage into a 3-1 cushion after he galloped to retrieve a Medvedev volley and dialed up another winner.

Later in the set, Medvedev was apparently perturbed by Sinner being given a medical timeout. Sinner’s thigh was treated during that break in play.

Sinner gained another game after that and was up 4-2 as the rain started to fall in Rome. At first, the match continued.

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But Sinner inquired about a delay, voicing his concern that he could slip. After a back-and-forth exchange, the match was in fact delayed and then suspended until Saturday, when play resumed at 10:05 a.m. ET.