Sinner-Medvedev, official postponement to Saturday: what time the match resumes

Nothing to do: heavy rain forced the organizers of the Internazionali d’Italia to permanently suspend the men’s tournament semifinal between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev. Bad weather, which came in the third partial at the score of 6-2, 5-7, 4-2 for Sinner (40-A Medvedev with the Russian at bat), no longer allowed the game to start again: the postponement decided by the ATP is official, the match between the South Tyrolean and the Russian will thus resume on Saturday afternoon.

The continuation of the match should be held after the doubles final, scheduled at 12 noon at the Central court. The interruption came in the third set after a spat between Jannik Sinner, who was insistently asking for a stop for fear of injury, and chair judge Aurelie Tourte: “It’s pouring, the problem is the lines, what happens if I slip on the lines. I can’t make that decision but it’s pouring,” the Azzurro had repeated.

Sinner had dominated the first set 6-2 thanks to an extraordinary approach, immediately breaking Medvedev in the first game and replicating in the third, and then being flawless in his own service turns. In the second partial, however, the Blue suffered a sharp physical decline, surrendering 7-5 after saving two set points in the 11th game. In the third partial, the world number one had regained his lucidity, snatching the break in the third game and taking a 4-2 lead, before the rain interrupted everything.

The tension in the stands had already reached very high levels before the weather stop: Jannik’s mother, Siglinde, had left the Central Court after the second set, too overcome with emotion at seeing her son in pain. Dad Hanspeter, brother Mark, and girlfriend Laila Hasanovic remained in the stands, at least until rain arrived and postponed everything until Saturday.