Sinner beats Medvedev after rain delay, extends Masters win streak to 33

Jannik Sinner finished a rain-suspended semi-final against Daniil Medvedev on Saturday to reach the Italian Open final in Rome, extending his ATP Masters 1000 winning streak to 33 matches. The top-ranked Italian completed a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win after the match had been halted late Friday with Sinner leading 4-2 in the third set. ATP Tour said play had been suspended at 9:45 p.m. local time on Friday because of rain and resumed at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Casper Ruud, who had already advanced, will face Sinner in Sunday’s final at the Foro Italico. ### How much of the match was left when rain stopped play? Friday’s suspension came with Jannik Sinner ahead 6-2, 5-7, 4-2 and Daniil Medvedev serving at ad-40, according to ATP Tour. The stoppage froze a match that had already run 2 hours and 23 minutes and had shifted sharply after Medvedev took the second set. Saturday’s resumption was brief but tight. (atptour.com) Tennis Majors reported that the remaining 21 points were split 12-9 in Sinner’s favor and that every game went with serve, leaving little room for either player to change the result once play restarted. ### What did the finish tell us about the match itself? (atptour.com) Sinner closed the contest in 2 hours and 34 minutes by holding serve in the final game after Medvedev had saved two match points on his own serve at 5-3. Tennis Majors reported that Medvedev erased one match point with an ace and another with a winning serve before Sinner converted his third chance on serve. (tennismajors.com) Medvedev’s reaction at the net was short and direct. “Too good,” Tennis Majors reported Medvedev telling Sinner after the handshake. ### Why does the number 33 matter here? The ATP Masters 1000 streak reached 33 with this win, extending what ATP Tour had listed at 32 before the semi-final resumed. (tennismajors.com) ATP Tour also said Friday’s second set was only the third set Sinner had lost during that Masters run. The run has stacked up across multiple events, and Tennis Majors said the Rome result put Sinner into his sixth consecutive Masters 1000 final and his 14th career final at that level. (tennismajors.com) The same report said he has now won 50 of his last 52 matches and reached a second straight Rome final. (atptour.com) ### What was going on physically before the stoppage? ATP Tour reported that Sinner struggled to catch his breath during stretches of the second set on Friday, bending over between points as Medvedev forced a decider. The official match update said Sinner then steadied himself by breaking for 2-1 in the third set before the rain interruption. (tennismajors.com) Tennis Majors reported that Sinner took a medical timeout at 3-2 in the deciding set on Friday and that the stoppage drew audible irritation from Medvedev toward chair umpire Aurélie Tourte. That made the semi-final one of Sinner’s more demanding matches in recent months, according to the same report. (atptour.com) ### What comes next in Rome? Sunday’s order of play lists the ATP singles final between Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud for not before 5 p.m. on Campo Centrale, according to ATP Tour. Ruud had already reached the final before the suspended semi-final was completed. Roland-Garros then begins its opening week on Monday, May 18, with qualifying and practice sessions in Paris, according to the tournament’s official provisional schedule. (tennismajors.com) That leaves Sinner and Ruud with one more clay-court final in Rome before the French Open calendar starts. (rolandgarros.com) (atptour.com)