In the continuation of the match interrupted on Friday evening due to rain Jannik beat the Russian Medvedev. And tomorrow he challenges the Norwegian Ruud to bring an Italian back to triumph at the Foro Italico 50 years after Adriano Panatta
On the third match ball Jannik Sinner closes the marathon against Medvedev and reaches the final of the Rome Internationals. Two games in one played with a night in between, At the end of the match Sinner admitted: “I had a hard time sleeping last night, It usually never happens to me.” The tension and adrenaline left their mark after the battle against the Russian was interrupted at 4-2 in the third set after Sinner had dominated the first, but in the second he had had a poor run going 0-3, he had also vomited on the court, then he had recovered by recovering to 3-3, and then giving up the set in the face of the growth of Medvedev who played a practically perfect second set.
From rain to sunshine
The weather conditions on Friday evening were very challenging for both tennis players: the humidity was very high, the temperature was low and the balls went slower than usual. Sinner confirmed that he knows how to get into the game straight away and as he often does he broke Medvedev’s serve and then broke it again and flew to close the first set 6-2. Medvedev always takes a while to get going, but he is considered a specialist in long matches. The Russian increased the pace and greatly reduced the pauses between points, demonstrating his excellent physical condition. On the other hand, Sinner suffered from fatigue, he often got out of breath especially after long rallies, but he always remained in the match thanks to his extraordinary ability to concentrate. “Nobody has the head of Jannik” is the phrase that we hear repeated on the circuit by world tennis experts. Probably the ability to always play the decisive points at his best derives precisely from his concentration which reaches its maximum when needed. It also happened on Friday evening, at the beginning of the second set, when the match was in absolute balance and Sinner, after having requested the intervention of the physiotherapist who massaged his right thigh (with Medvedev protesting to the referee because the Russian claimed that with cramps one cannot ask for intervention) he played a splendid third game in response by breaking Medvedev’s serve. With 4-1 in his favour, Sinner had the opportunity to make it 5-1, but Medvedev canceled out two break points then while the Russian served to make it 4-3, here came the rain and the long night of waiting. Until this afternoon: Sinner and Medvedev returned to the court with the sun and a mild temperature, the Russian with an ace took the lead to 4-3, then Sinner won his service turn, wasted two match balls on Medvedev’s serve and then closed 6-4 and won the second consecutive final in Rome. Before him he only succeeded Nicola Pietrangeli, Why Adriano Panatta, winner in 1976reached two finals but in three years.
Jannik’s happiness
“It was short but difficult: I struggled to sleep during the night because when you have to complete a match you never know what can happen and there is always a lot of tension. I think Casper is a complicated challenge, he is playing very well, every week and every match things can change, for me it is a special tournament and it is for the Italians, I will try to do my best.” For Sinner it is the fifth Masters 1000 final of 2026, the sixth in a row since Paris Nanterre 2025, the third of the season out of the three tournaments in this category on clay as only Nadal was able to do, the last time in 2013. The streak of consecutive victories in the Masters 1000 extends to 33 and is the twenty-eighth of this year.
