ATP Tour

Sinner-Medvedev Rome SF to be completed Saturday due to rain

Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev were nearing the crescendo of their Internazionali BNL d'Italia semi-final Friday evening when play was suspended until Saturday due to rain. Sinner leads Medvedev 6-2, 5-7, 4-2, with the latter serving at Ad/40.

Play will resume Saturday at 3 p.m. in Rome., ahead of the women's singles final between Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina (not before 5 p.m.). The action on Campo Centrale was originally suspended due to the rain at 9:45 p.m Friday evening. 

There has been plenty of drama in the first two hours and 23 minutes of play. For much of the second set, Sinner struggled to catch his breath after points, bending over to try to recover several times. The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings battled from a break down to level the set, before former World No. 1 Medvedev forced a decider.

That was just the third set Sinner has lost during his record ATP Masters 1000 winning streak, which stands at 32 matches. The top seed had not lost more than four games in a set through four matches en route to the semi-finals.

Suddenly, it looked like Sinner's chase for his sixth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title was in jeopardy. Medvedev was in full flow, playing aggressively when possible, defending well from behind the baseline and attacking his opponent's legs with drop shot after drop shot.

But Sinner steadied himself by seizing a break for 2-1 in the third set and now stands two games from his second consecutive final at the Foro Italico. The 24-year-old is two victories from joining Novak Djokovic as the only players to complete the Career Golden Masters, winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

Sinner will return to the court Sunday needing just two games to improve his record for the season to 35-2, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The World No. 1 has not faced a break point in the third set and has saved five of the seven break points he has confronted in the match.

Medvedev, already a champion earlier this year in Brisbane and Dubai, is pursuing his second Rome title (2023) and second clay-court trophy.

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Sinner leads Medvedev 9-7 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and this is their second encounter of the season, following the Indian Wells final (Sinner won 7-6(6), 7-6(4)).

The winner will play Casper Ruud Sunday in the championship match.