Jannik Sinner relentless, goes to final in Rome: Medvedev defeated after resumption of match

Jannik Sinner has qualified for the finals in Rome for the second consecutive year. The South Tyrolean tennis player, world number one, overcame Russian Daniil Medvedev in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, at the end of a match interrupted by rain during the third set Friday night and resumed on Saturday afternoon. The San Candido outfielder will face Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud in the final of the Internazionali d’Italia: the goal is to win the sixth consecutive Masters 1000 and once again enter tennis history.

Medvedev resumed the match with an ace, immediately going up 4-3. The world number one was undaunted, however, and firmly held serve, leaving his Russian rival at zero. In the ninth game, the Muscovite managed to cancel two match points for Sinner, holding serve. But at the serve the Blue was relentless and closed 6-4 the set and 2-1 the match, qualifying for the last act of the tournament.

The road to the final had not been without obstacles. On Friday night, during the third set and before the rain interruption, Sinner had experienced moments of obvious physical difficulty: cramps and a general state of discomfort had made him suffer during court changes. The tension had reached such levels that Jannik’s mother, Siglinde, had been forced to leave the Center Court after the second set, too overcome with emotion. Left in the stands were his father Hanspeter, brother Mark and girlfriend Laila Hasanovic.

For Sinner, winning the final would mean equaling a historic feat: winning the Internazionali d’Italia for the first time as an Italian since Adriano Panatta, who achieved it in 1976. Panatta himself, interviewed by Gazzetta dello Sport, wanted to frame the qualities of the world number one: “Sinner’s strength is not only technical: compared to all the others, he manages to maintain a very high continuity of performance much longer. Sure, he too sometimes plays at 60-70%, but how long does it last him? A few games, maybe a set, but eventually he comes back hammering and wins, even when he’s tired.”