Rome Masters: Medvedev overcomes Tsitsipas amid lengthy rain delays to reach first Italian Open final

In the twelfth chapter of their ever-burgeoning rivalry, Daniil Medvedev extended his head-to-head record against Stefanos Tsitsipas, coming through 7-5, 7-5 to reach the final of the Italian Open for the first time in his career, in what was a heavily rain-delayed semi-final.

A much-anticipated last four encounter ultimately did not get the chance to develop into the spectacle many hoped it would be, as the unseasonably wet weather in Rome this year continued to wreak havoc on the tournament’s schedule.

A fragmented Italian Open semi-final

Medvedev took the early initiative, breaking Tsitsipas early in the opening set as the Greek struggled to settle into the match.

But not for nothing is Tsitsipas a double 1000-level champion on the red clay of Europe, and he quickly hit his stride to break the Russian back, levelling the score at four games apiece before the first of two rain delays halted play.

In somewhat farcical scenes, the players returned for one game – which Tsitsipas took on his serve – before being ushered off court again as the rain quickly returned.

On resumption of play, Tsitsipas moved into a 0-30 lead on Medvedev’s serve before the world No. 3 stamped his firm authority on the match by recovering to hold serve before breaking in the following game and serving out to take the first set 7-5.

The second set continued in the same vein, with the Russian breaking a rattled Tsitsipas in the opening game.

However, Tsitsipas enjoyed another mini resurgence, wrestling back parity in the sixth game to familiar chants of ‘Tsit-si-pas’ from a crowd who had waited a long time for the climax of this match.

Ultimately, it was a short-lived renaissance as Medvedev broke again in the eleventh game of the second set after a loose service game from the world No. 5. Medvedev then served out the win with little trouble to move into his first ever 1000-level clay-court final.

Italian Open breakthrough for Medvedev

This season has marked a significant breakthrough for the Russian, who had previously struggled on clay. But after a promising run to the quarter-finals of Monte-Carlo, Medvedev has fully backed up that result by making the final in Rome.

For Tsitsipas, however, the disappointment not to have re-established his clay-court dominance over his long-time rival on this surface will be a difficult pill to swallow – especially given the elongated nature of this rain-disrupted encounter.

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Medvedev will now face Dane Holger Rune, the No. 7 seed, in the final, after he overcame Casper Ruud in the day’s earlier semi-final.

En route to the final, the Russian beat Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (6-4, 6-2), Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles, the No 31 seed (3-6, 6-1, 6-3), German Alexander Zverev, the No 19 seed (6-2, 7-6 (3)) and German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann (6-2, 6-2), before overcoming Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas can leave the tournament with his head held high, having put together an impressive run which included wins against Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-3, 6-3), Italian Lorenzo Sonego (6-3, 7-6 (3)), Italian Lorenzo Musetti (7-5, 7-5) and Croat Borna Coric, the No 15 seed (6-3, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Rome Masters, other semi-final result (Foro Italico, clay, EUR 7.705.780):

• Holger Rune beat Casper Ruud (4): 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2

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