Jannik Sinner improved to 4-0 against fellow Italians with a three-set win over Fabio Fognini Wednesday evening at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

In a back-and-forth match that included several dominant stretches from both players, Sinner surrendered a break advantage in the deciding set but pushed over the line with a final surge to earn a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

“It was a tough one for sure. I tried to play my best tennis, especially in the important points,” the 10th seed said in an on-court interview. “In the second set, he raised his level. He played better than me. In the third set it was a little bit of a rollercoaster. Fortunately I’ve done a great job in the final set to manage to break him first, and this for sure was the key today.”

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Sinner improved to 23-5 on the season as she seeks his fifth quarter-final of the year, while Fognini dropped to 12-9. The 34-year-old has made two clay-court finals in 2022, reaching that stage in Rio de Janeiro and Belgrade. The World No. 13 Sinner moved up one spot to No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings with the victory and can push all the way to No. 7 with the Rome title. That result would earn him a new career-high in next week’s Pepperstone ATP Rankings, surpassing his previous high of No. 9, first achieved last November.

The 20-year-old enjoyed greater success in short points in the Centre Court matchup, while the veteran Fognini got the better of the longer rallies, including on two break points which he ended with scorching baseline winners. But after a world-class forehand earned him his third break of the match to get back on serve at 3-4 in the decider, Fognini dropped serve behind two double faults, finishing with nine in the match.

That would be the final twist in a topsy-turvy match, as Sinner served it out to love in the ensuing game to match his best result in Rome by reaching the last 16.

“He’s a great friend,” Sinner said of his opponent. “He gave me a lot of confidence when I played with him in Davis Cup. He’s a very special player, like today, he can raise his level incredibly fast.”

Fognini won the first six points of the contest but then lost the next seven as Sinner secured an early break and cruised to the opening set. Fognini then won eight points in a row midway through the second to take a break lead, but needed a brilliant break-point backhand to reclaim the advantage and cap a run of three games against serve.

In the third set, Sinner won 12 straight points to lead 4-1 before Fognini earned the break back. But Fognini’s 39 errors proved too much to overcome as Sinner won eight of the last nine points to prevail.

The ebb and flow of the match was neatly illustrated by the Balance of Power metric. The winner of each set also won out in that statistic, which measures the percentage of shots hit from an attacking position. The greatest margin came in the final set, as shown below.

Sinner advances to Filip Krajinovic on Thursday after the Serbian’s 6-2, 6-4 win over sixth seed Andrey Rublev.

In another thriller, former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka battled past Serbian Laslo Djere 7-6(8), 3-6, 6-4 after two hours and 49 minutes to set a blockbuster clash against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

“It’s not the best prize, but it’s always special to play against him,” Wawrinka said in his on-court interview. “I’m not where I want to be yet with my game, with my fitness level, with my mental [game]. I need those matches, so to have a chance to play against the best player, it’s going to be really difficult for me, that’s for sure.

“I’m not ready to compete I think at that level, but it’s what I need. I need those challenges. I need to push myself as much as I can to keep improving.”

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37 y/o @stanwawrinka becomes the lowest-ranked player in the Rome third round since No. 411 Corrado Borroni in 1995!#IBI22 pic.twitter.com/1xbpg0a9MM

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 11, 2022

Wawrinka went 15 months between tour-level wins as he recovered from two left foot surgeries. The Swiss star needed just two days to earn his next victory in Rome.

After rallying from a set and a break down Monday against Reilly Opelka in the first round, the Swiss overcame a break deficit in the deciding set against Djere. Wawrinka was not at his flying best, often choosing to play longer rallies and use his backhand slice to try to gain an advantage. When he did unleash his powerful groundstrokes, they sometimes missed the mark.

But the 37-year-old’s fighting spirit was at its peak. After breaking back for 3-3 in the decider, Wawrinka put his index finger to his head to reflect that. Although Djere played daring tennis — especially on the forehand side — to save three match points, he was unable to dismiss a fourth. The Serbian missed a forehand long and Wawrinka cracked a wide smile as he looked to his team and the fans at the Foro Italico roared their approval.

“Tonight was a big fight. [There was] big support from the fans, it’s always something special,” Wawrinka continued on court. “At my age, after all I’ve done in my career, that’s one of the main reasons why I’m still playing. It’s to get the chance to play in front of the fans.”

In his post-match press conference, Wawrinka expanded on his feelings: “It was tough battle, that’s for sure. Amazing atmosphere. Great to play those matches. That’s exactly what I need.

“I was feeling in general great. I’m happy with the fight, I’m happy [with] what I’ve done, the way I finished. As I say, I need those matches. I need the competition. You cannot practice that feeling. You cannot practice that feeling of nerves, stress, the way you feel during the match, the way the body reacts. It was a bit up and down with my body, but I finished really strong, was feeling much better at the end. I’m happy with that win.”

Marin Cilic had his return game dialed in to upset ninth seed Cameron Norrie 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round. The Croatian broke serve five times to set a meeting with Chilean Cristian Garin, whom he leads 2-0 in ATP Head2Head meetings.

World No. 23 Cilic, who had not won consecutive matches since reaching the Australian Open fourth round in January, is looking to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final for the first time since Madrid 2019.

American qualifier Marcos Giron scored an upset against 12th seed Diego Schwartzman, taking a 6-1, 7-6(4) decision on Pietrangeli. The World No. 60 reached the Dallas semi-finals in February but had not picked up a main-draw win on the ATP Tour since later that month in Acapulco, until his opening-round victory over Alexander Bublik in Rome snapped a seven-match losing streak.

He advances to face eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in his bid to extend his debut run in the Italian capital.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies continued their hot streak on the European clay at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Wednesday, when the all-German team ran out a 6-3, 6-3 winner over home wild cards Luca Nardi and Lorenzo Sonego.

The eighth seeds broke the Italians four times to complete a 77-minute second-round win at the ATP Masters 1000 event and reach the quarter-finals in the Italian capital for the first time. They will next face another Italian duo, Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, or Chilean-Croatian pair Julio Peralta and Franko Skugor.

Two-time Roland Garros champions Krawietz and Mies lifted their first tour-level title since October 2020 in Barcelona in April, and backed that triumph up a week later with another crown at their home tournament in Munich. Their first-round win over another Italian pair, Matteo Arnaldi and Francesco Passaro, was their first together in Rome, with the Germans having lost their only previous match at the Foro Italico in 2020.

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There was a big upset in the first-round action taking place on Wednesday as Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara defeated top-seeded pairing Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, 7-6(5), 6-3. Glasspool and Heliovaara saved all three break points they faced on the way to a successful debut in Rome, where singles stars Thanasi Kokkinakis and Frances Tiafoe await in the second round.

There were no such problems for Mutua Madrid Open champions Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, who moved to 31-7 for the season with an opening 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer. It is the third victory over Arevalo and Rojer this year for seventh-seeded Koolhof and Skupski, who also beat the El Salvadorian-Dutch duo at the Melbourne Summer Set in January and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in April.

In other opening-round matches, Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar sealed a 6-7(2), 6-3, 10-5 win to upset sixth seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus, while Houston champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell beat Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alexander Bublik, 6-4, 6-1.

Stefanos Tsitsipas saved two match points to complete a trilogy of recent wins against Grigor Dimitrov Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. But his third victory over the Bulgarian in as many tournaments, by way of a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4) result, was by far the toughest of the trio.

“Incredible fight. I’m extremely happy I was able to overcome this obstacle,” Tsitsipas said post-match. “Grigor played really well, gave me a hard time on the court.

“Just so many emotions. The fact that I was able to process all of that and come back stronger in the third-set tie-break, it was such a great way to redeem myself after not being able to hold in that last game of the second set.”

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Tsitsipas served for what would have been his third consecutive straight-sets win in the rivalry but was broken at love as Dimitrov won four straight games and 16 of the set’s last 17 points to force a decider.

In the third, Dimitrov had a match point on return at 4-5 and 5-6. But Tsitsipas saved the first with a bold serve-and-volley play on second serve and the second with a big delivery to send it to a tie-break. After the Greek raced to a 5/0 lead, Dimitrov used a bunted backhand return winner to spark a comeback to 5/4, but Tsitsipas held his nerve on serve to advance to the last 16.

“It’s like playing in the Colosseum,” Tsitsipas said of the atmosphere on Grand Stand Arena. “There’s so much energy coming from the crowd. I think the people that came today to watch the match were so into it… It made for a great atmosphere and a great gladiator kind of environment on the court.”

At his best, the fourth seed used his forehand to open up the court and dictate patterns of play, frequently finishing points at net.

With his 28th victory of the year, Tsitsipas pulled level with 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz atop the season’s match-wins leaderboard. Tsitsipas has now won his past four matches against Dimitrov and five of their six career ATP Head2Head meetings.

A finalist at Roland Garros last year, Tsitsipas this week has moved ahead of Rafael Nadal into fourth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings because the Spaniard drops the 1,000 points he earned by winning last year’s title.

A Rome semi-finalist in 2014, Dimitrov slipped to 15-10 on the season. But the Bulgarian remains on track to reach 30 match wins this season for the first time since 2017, when he finished the year at No. 3. Earlier this month Dimitrov returned to the Top 20 for the first time in almost 12 months.

Tsitsipas next faces Karen Khachanov, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 winner over 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta earlier on Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal’s bid for an 11th crown at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia enjoyed a smooth start on Wednesday afternoon as the legendary Spaniard blunted the big-serving John Isner to seal a 6-3, 6-1 second-round win at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Nadal has been untouchable at the Foro Italico for much of his career and he immediately looked settled in his return games against Isner, countering the American’s huge serve with his trademark spinning groundstrokes. Although the unseeded Isner competed well, he struggled to recover any momentum after letting slip two break points at 3-3 in the opening set as Nadal dominated the second to move to a 69-7 match record in the Italian capital.

Nadal identified his hold in the seventh game of the first set as the key turning point in his eighth tour-level win over Isner. “I finished better than how I started, without a doubt,” said the Spaniard after the match. “The beginning of the match was not good for me.

“He had some chances on the return and had two break points. [He had] two not difficult balls so I was in his hands at that moment. I was lucky that he missed those shots and then I was able to break. Then the match changed, of course. With the first set on the board, and having the break in the first game of the second [set], everything changed.”

The win continued Nadal’s comeback to competitive action after he reached the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open last week following a six-week layoff due to a rib injury. Having lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in Spain, the win over Isner ensured Nadal has still never lost consecutive matches on clay, with Wednesday’s victory taking him to 44-0 in matches following a defeat on the surface.

An evenly matched opening set hinged on the seventh and eighth games, as Nadal saved two break points to hold before breaking the American for 5-3. He served out to clinch the set as Nadal began to up his level to the delight of a passionate Italian crowd.

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Nadal’s return game continued to look in good shape against former World No. 8 Isner, and the 36-time Masters 1000 champion broke the World No. 27 three times in the second set to complete a comfortable 76-minute victory. The win was built on relentless consistency from Nadal, who made just three unforced errors in the match.

“I just focussed on myself,” added Nadal when asked about his second-set improvement. “I focussed on trying to keep going. I knew I had to do things better than I had done, and I need to practise to try and do it better and better.”

The Spaniard next faces another North American star in the third round, 13th seed Denis Shapovalov. The pair met in a memorable semi-final in Rome last year, when Nadal saved two match points before prevailing over the Canadian in a deciding-set tie-break after three hours, 27 minutes.

“Last year was a joke, the match that I saved here against him,” said Nadal. “[I was] super lucky. I know how dangerous he is, I need to play well, of course. I need to play better than today, but after a while without being on court it is another victory and I have the chance again to play against one of the best players in the world.

“I need to build things again after a tough stoppage and that’s what I am trying now. I just need to stay with the right attitude, and let’s see if I am able to make that happen.”

Alexander Zverev was given no time to settle in his opening match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Wednesday, but the second seed raised his game to fend off a strong challenge from the in-form Sebastian Baez at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The German struggled to find the form that carried him to a 10th Masters 1000 championship match appearance at the Mutua Madrid Open last week, but he found a sufficient level to outlast Estoril champion Baez and clinch a 7-6(6), 6-3 in an intriguing second-round encounter at the Foro Italico.

“I’m [very pleased], especially coming from Madrid to here,” said Zverev after his 89-minute win over qualifier Baez. “It’s not always not easy because Madrid is at altitude and the balls are flying like crazy, but here everything is pretty slow. It wasn’t an easy match and I’m happy with the way I played at the end. He played three matches already here, it’s my first, so I’m happy with the win.”

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Despite a disappointing loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid final, the German looked back to his best at times in the Spanish capital after an inconsistent start to 2022 that has left the World No. 3 still hunting a first title of the year. He will hope to use the victory over Baez as a foundation for another deep run in Rome, where he claimed his maiden Masters 1000 title as a 20-year-old in 2017.

Although it was not the most fluent performance from Zverev, the World No.3’s ballstriking ability was vital in helping him overcome the stubborn Argentine. The German fired 28 winners to his opponent’s 19, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Baez came out with all the confidence of a man on a six-match winning streak. The World No. 37 won his first 21 points on serve as Zverev struggled to fire up his return game. The German was also solid behind his delivery, however, with neither player facing a break point in the first set. Despite letting a 6/2 lead slip in the tie-break, Zverev’s extra power proved the difference as he converted his fifth set point with an ace.

The second set looked to be playing out in a similar fashion as Baez continued to give little away behind his delivery, but Zverev belatedly put together a streak of top-quality returns to clinch the only break of the match in the eighth game. He served out without issue to improve his match record in Rome to 14-4.

Zverev was pleased with the way he recovered to seal the first set tie-break 8/6 after letting four set points slip. “At the end of the day I feel like I did nothing wrong,” said the German. “I got a little bit unlucky, made one unforced error with my overhead, but those are not easy shots either. In the end you have to fight until the very last moment, and the first set was [very important] for me.”

Zverev’s third-round opponent in Rome will be Alex de Minaur, after the Australian defeated Tommy Paul for the second time at a Masters 1000 event this year. De Minaur beat the No. 34-ranked American 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday to back up his straight-sets win over Paul at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March.