Jannik Sinner played through exhaustion and maintained his focus overnight to beat Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 when their rain-delayed semifinal resumed on Saturday to extend his winning streak to 28 matches and set up an Italian Open final against Casper Ruud.
The top-ranked Sinner is one victory away from becoming only the second man after Novak Djokovic to win all nine Masters 1000 titles. Rome is the only event in the Master series – the biggest outside the Grand Slams – that Sinner hasn´t won. Djokovic won each Masters event at least twice. Sinner had led 4-2 in the third set when the match was suspended late Friday. The Italian finished off the match quickly when play resumed on Saturday, sealing it on his third match point after Medvedev had managed to fend off two on his serve. Earlier on Friday on the red clay of the Foro Italico, Ruud maintained his focus during a nearly two-hour rain delay to rout home player Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-1. Coco Gauff will play Elina Svitolina in the women´s final later Saturday. The men´s final is scheduled for Sunday. Sinner is also attempting to become the first Italian man to raise the Rome trophy in a half century – since Adriano Panatta in 1976. Panatta will present the title to this year´s champion on Sunday, with Italian President Sergio Mattarella also slated to attend the final. After winning the first set easily on Friday, Sinner appeared fatigued as Medvedev stepped up his game and started running him around the court with drop shots and groundstrokes to the corners.