Rome, May 16 (IANS) Home favourite, Jannik Sinner, held his nerve under immense pressure, surviving a fine performance by his rival and a late-night suspension before returning on Saturday afternoon to eventually fight past Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Italian Open in Rome.
With this win, Sinner preserved his pursuit of the Career Golden Masters as he reached the final of the event in his home country.
After a dominant first set, the World No. 1 was dragged into a far more gruelling and physical contest, while Medvedev gradually imposed himself and forced the Italian into extended defensive exchanges. When the 30-year-old levelled the match, Sinner appeared under severe pressure, but he responded with grit and composure to lead 4-2 before play was suspended for the night due to rain.
Returning to court, 18 hours later on Saturday afternoon, the Italian held to love and then had two match points on Medvedev’s serve. Sinner was unable to finish the job on the 30-year-old’s delivery but held his nerve on serve again to push himself over the line and secure his return to the ATP Masters 1000 final. Sinner was on court for just 15 minutes on Saturday.
“It was a very different challenge and a tough challenge,” Sinner said after the match. “Usually, during the night, I don’t struggle to sleep, but this time it was not easy. You are in the third set, nearly done, but you still have to show up again, and you never know what is happening. It is like the start of the match, as there are nerves again. I am very happy with how I handled this situation and that I’m back in the final,” he was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour.
By reaching the Rome championship match for a second consecutive year — following defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 final — Sinner now stands one win away from completing the Career Golden Masters. If he defeats Casper Ruud in Sunday’s title showdown, the 24-year-old would become only the second man, alongside Novak Djokovic, to capture all nine Masters 1000 titles.
With this determined semi-final win, Sinner extended his record Masters 1000 winning streak to 33 matches, having already moved beyond Djokovic’s previous benchmark of 31 after defeating Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals. The Italian also became just the second player, after Rafael Nadal in 2011, to reach the final of the season’s first five Masters 1000 tournaments, having already lifted trophies in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Madrid.
After a commanding opening set — where Sinner won 92 per cent (11/12) first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats — the contest shifted, and Medvedev absorbed pressure more effectively to push the Italian deeper behind the baseline, using variation and court positioning to create a far more physically demanding duel.
Sinner, at times bent over and visibly drained between rallies, found himself briefly undone when Medvedev struck a clean backhand winner to level the match, a moment that brought a stunned hush over Campo Centrale. Yet the setback proved temporary rather than terminal.
Reinvigorated in the decider, Sinner carved out a vital break for 2-1 and reacted with a thunderous roar, a release of tension that underlined the significance of the moment and swung control firmly back in his favour.
However, heavy rain in the Italian capital late on Friday night forced play to be suspended at 9:45 p.m. CEST. The Top 10 stars were unable to return to court that evening. But when play eventually resumed on Saturday, Sinner clinically reeled off the two games he needed to earn a two-hour, 37-minute win.
–IANS
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