Medvedev Gets First Italian Open Victory As Norrie Sets Up Djokovic Showdown
Daniil Medvedev moved into the third round of the Italian Open with a straight-sets win over Emil Ruusuvuori, finally ending his long wait for a victory in Rome. The third seed had failed to win a match in three previous attempts and will face Bernabe Zapata Miralles next for a place in the last 16. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune also progressed, but Taylor Fritz suffered a shock early exit.
Several big names earned wins on a busy Sunday at the Italian Open as Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud advanced, while British No. 1 Cameron Norrie set up a last-16 clash with Novak Djokovic.
Defending champion Djokovic beat Grigor Dimitrov in three sets to continue his quest for a seventh title in the Italian capital, before 13th seed Norrie eliminated Marton Fucsovics.
Norrie claimed a 6-2 7-6(4) victory in 80 minutes as he broke the big-serving Hungarian four times and kept his unforced error count down to an impressive seven, in contrast to 20 from Fucsovics.
Third seed Medvedev successfully navigated a potential banana skin of a tie against Emil Ruusuvuori that incorporated a rain delay after Saturday’s inclement weather forced several matches to be pushed forward.
Medvedev won 6-4 6-2 to end a surprisingly poor record in Rome; it was his first victory at the ATP Masters 1000 event in four appearances.
“It is a little bit [of a relief],” said Medvedev.
“We can talk about all of the matches I lost here, they were different. The first one, I feel like I should have won, but it is [what it is].
“Whenever I come to a tournament, I know that I can play well, so I’m happy to finally get the win here in Rome.”
Ruusuvuori promised to provide a tricky challenge for the Russian after giving Carlos Alcaraz a scare at the Madrid Open, where he won the opening set against the US Open champion before succumbing in three.
However, he was blown away by Medvedev, who broke the Finn’s serve five times on the iconic Pietrangeli Court in a win that took 88 minutes.
Earlier, seventh seed Holger Rune ended the entertaining run of home favourite Fabio Fognini with a 6-4 6-2 victory.
In a battle of the old generation vs the new – 15 years separate the two players – a boisterous crowd hoped to see 35-year-old Fognini earn another big scalp after previously taking out Andy Murray and Miomir Kecmanovic.
But Rune drowned out the home support to clinch victory in 76 minutes, striking 18 winners along the way.
He will face Alexei Popyrin in the last 16, who continued his superb run through the tournament from the qualifiers by beating Romain Safiullin 7-5 7-5.
Tsitsipas, the fifth seed in Rome, completed his match with Nuno Borges without any fuss after it was postponed by rain with the Greek leading 6-3 4-3 on Saturday.
The 2022 runner-up won eight of the 11 points played to complete a 6-3 6-3 victory and set up a clash with Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Fourth seed Casper Ruud edged to victory over Alexander Bublik, coming up big in a decisive third set tie-break as he won every point to seal victory.
The Norwegian claimed a 6-1 4-6 7-6(0) win in two hours and five minutes and will need to beat Laslo Djere next to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season.
Elsewhere, ninth seed Taylor Fritz suffered a shock exit at the hands of qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, 6-4 6-1.
The German will face a fellow surprise package next in the third round, Italy’s Marco Cecchinato, who eliminated 21st seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2 6-2 on home soil.
Francisco Cerundolo defeated Gregoire Barrere in three sets to move into the last 16, while Serbia’s Djere also made it through the third round when his opponent Cristian Garin retired.
Qualifier Fabian Marozsan from Hungary produced an upset to beat 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka in the third round, while Lorenzo Musetti won an all-Italian clash against Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-4.
Next up for Musetti is a clash with 12th seed Frances Tiafoe, who came from a set down to see off qualifier Daniel Altmaier in three.
Alexander Zverev beat David Goffin 5-7 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round.
