Daniil Medvedev broke new ground at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday when he cruised past German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals in Rome for the first time.

The third seed had never won a match in the Italian capital before this fortnight, but has produced some of his best tennis to advance to the last four at an ATP Masters 1000 clay-court event for just the second time (Monte-Carlo 2019).

“I said before the tournament I was feeling really great in practice,” Medvedev said. “It is always a danger to say this if you lose the first round and you think, ‘Why did I say this’. But I am feeling great. The transition from Grand Stand to center court was not easy. He was struggling more than me and I am happy with the win and being in the semis.”

In a dominant performance against Hanfmann, Medvedev sat deep behind the baseline to soak up the German’s powerful hitting, striking a number of stunning passing winners. The third seed moved well on centre court and timed the ball cleanly off both wings to advance after one hour and 20 minutes.

“I knew I had to put as many balls into the court as possible because he plays aggressively,” Medvedev said. “There aren’t going to be many points where you dictate, it will be mainly him. But what you have to do is play deep and try and make him miss. Maybe he didn’t play his best match but that is how it works, you can’t play your best match every day and I am happy I could neutralise his attacking style.”

Medvedev has now earned a Tour-leading 18 ATP Masters 1000 wins this season, highlighted by his run to the title in Miami last month. The 27-year-old, who defeated Alexander Zverev in the fourth round, will continue the quest for his fifth trophy of the season when he takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas or Borna Coric in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Medvedev is currently first in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and will extend his lead to 845 points if he wins his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown this week after second-placed Carlos Alcaraz lost in the third round in Rome.

In one of his best performances of the season, Medvedev was zoned in from ball one against Hanfmann. In an impressive first set, the third seed won 80 per cent (16/20) of his first-serve points and was aggressive throughout, striking 14 winners to lead. The second set followed a similar story, with Medvedev controlling the baseline exchanges with his weight and depth of shot to earn his 37th win of the season.

Hanfmann was competing in the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time after upsetting Top 10 stars Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev en route to the last eight. The 31-year-old German has climbed 37 spots to No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his dream run in Italy.

“Speaking of #Steals. This. Rally. Is. Daylight. Robbery”@DaniilMedwed‘s #Steal score today:
49% (23/47) 👀 🤯

Tour Avg. 32%#StealScore calculates how often a player has won the point when they are in defence during the point.@RobKoenigTennis https://t.co/cWK7T9wRn4

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) May 18, 2023

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Roland Garros, he announced on Thursday at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar. The 14-time champion will not play in the season’s second major for the first time since his tournament debut in 2005.

The 36-year-old has not competed since January at the Australian Open, where he suffered an injury to the iliopsoas muscle in his left leg. Nadal and his team were expecting a recovery period of six to eight weeks, but the lefty has not returned to action. 

In addition to his record 14 trophies at Roland Garros, Nadal owns a 112-3 record across 18 career appearances at the major. His 112 match wins and his 97.4 per cent win rate both stand alone as records, as does his perfect 14-0 mark in finals. 

Last year in Paris, Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in a three-set championship match to win a record-breaking 22nd Grand Slam singles title — a mark Novak Djokovic has since equalled. 

Nadal overcame a chronic foot injury to win both the Australian Open and Roland Garros last season. But the Spaniard has played just five tournaments since due to injury.

Coric, who can make his debut in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings Top 10 should he win the Rome title, is looking for back-to-back semi-final showings after reaching the last four in Madrid less than two weeks ago.

Winless in Rome before this year, Daniil Medvedev will look to continue his roll in the Italian capital when he kicks off Thursday play with a first-time meeting with German Yannick Hanfmann, who has surged 37 places to World No. 64 during the tournament in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Here is a look at Thursday’s two intriguing clashes at the Foro Italico.

[3] Daniil Medvedev vs. [Q] Yannick Hanfmann (GER)

Medvedev’s 0-3 record in Rome coming into the event may have led many to discount him as a title contender, but the 27-year-old has passed three stern tests at the Foro Italico to back up his quarter-final run in Monte-Carlo and fourth-round appearance in Madrid.

Straight-sets triumphs against Emil Ruusuvuori and Alexander Zverev either side of a battling three-set win against clay-court specialist Bernabe Zapata Miralles have further boosted Medvedev’s credentials on a surface that he has not always enjoyed. Now a Tour-leading 36-5 for the season, he will be full of confidence as he prepares for a maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with Hanfmann.

Like Medvedev, however, Hanfmann has not produced a strong run in Italy out of the blue. The 31-year-old has successfully qualified for a Tour-leading six ATP Tour events in 2023. Five of those tournaments were on clay, and he went on to reach the quarter-finals in Santiago in February before a semi-final run in Houston in April.

“I saw a little bit of [Hanfmann’s] match today and I saw his third set against [Marco] Cecchinato. He’s playing well right now,” said Medvedev after he downed Zverev in the fourth round on Tuesday. “I feel like he was already playing well, in Houston and Madrid [for example], just not going into the final or something like this.

“[Here is his] breakthrough, let’s say, already in the quarter-finals from qualies, playing a great level. So I have to be at my best to try to beat him.”

Hanfmann’s powerful forehand was crucial to his wins against Top 10 opponents Taylor Fritz (in the second round) and Andrey Rublev (fourth round) in Rome. Medvedev will likely offer less incoming ball speed to work with than those previous opponents, however. That makes the German’s ability to generate his own power and strike enough winners past defensive master Medvedev key to his chances of springing another upset.

[5] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. [15] Borna Coric (CRO)

After successfully pulling double duty in Rome, can Tsitsipas maintain his momentum to reach his third semi-final in the Italian capital?

The Greek eliminated two home favourites on Tuesday, when he wrapped up a third-round triumph against Lorenzo Sonego before returning close to midnight to defeat Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round. He will need to bring his best again for his quarter-final against the fifteenth-seeded Coric, who leads 3-2 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series.

Tsitsipas will take confidence from winning his most recent meeting with the Croatian at the United Cup in January. The World No. 5 has rebounded well on the European clay after a modest February and March by his standards, reaching the final in Barcelona and the quarter-finals in Madrid, and he is yet to drop a set as he chases his first ATP Tour title of the year in Rome.

Coric will aim to use his rock-solid baseline game to expose any inconsistencies in Tsitsipas’ ballstriking from the baseline. The 26-year-old, who became an ATP Masters 1000 champion in Cincinnati last year, is now 14-9 for the season after backing up his Madrid semi-final run by reaching the last eight in Rome for the first time.

Casper Ruud continued his Rome resurgence on Wednesday evening.

The fourth seed defeated 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(5), 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The Norwegian has advanced to the last four at the Foro Italico in three consecutive appearances and will next face Holger Rune, who upset Novak Djokovic earlier in the day.

“I’m just very happy to play good tennis and be in the semi-finals,” Ruud said in his on-court interview. “It’s going to be a very, very fun one, hopefully.”

Ruud stepped onto centre court having lost two consecutive matches against Cerundolo, including a straight-sets defeat just weeks ago in Barcelona. But the 24-year-old earned revenge on the Roman clay after two hours and five minutes.

The 2022 Roland Garros finalist has rounded into form in recent weeks. He claimed his first ATP Tour title of the season in Estoril and is now two victories from earning his first ATP Masters 1000 title.

“Tennis is a strange sport, as we all can tell. And I think I’ve really lived through it the last 12 months or so, some of my best moments of my career and some tougher losses in the past couple of months,” Ruud said. “But here we are back in Rome and I feel great. I know that I’ve had success in Italy before in my career, here [I made] two times [the] semi-finals, Turin last year was amazing for me… It’s something in the food maybe, I don’t know.”

Cerundolo made him work hard for his triumph on the Italian clay. Both players made plenty of unforced errors — 28 for Ruud and 47 for Cerundolo — as they attempted to find an edge in rallies.

The players were largely content to battle from behind the baseline, lacing heavy balls back and forth. Ruud earned more opportunities on return, with 14 break points, but Cerundolo saved 11 of them.

After squeaking through a tight tie-break, Ruud made the critical move at 4-4 in the second set. Cerundolo missed an aggressive inside-out forehand wide and the Norwegian served out his victory.

The fourth seed will next face Rune, against whom he owns a 4-0 ATP Head2Head advantage. Their most recent clash came in last year’s Roland Garros quarter-finals.

“He’s improved so much. I played him a couple times in 2021 and a couple of times in 2022, and his improvement is just really, really good,” Ruud said. “You can see that his confidence is good on court and [he] really deserves [to be] where he is at the moment.

“He has big goals for his career and is going through one goal by another so I’m just going to try to think about what I’ve done well against him before — I have a winning record against him. Tennis is always open, it’s never over until it’s over, and I’m just going to try to fight.”

Roger Federer may have brought his ATP Tour career to a close, but the Swiss great’s hard work off the court continues.

In his role as President of the Roger Federer Foundation, the 103-time tour-level titlist this week visited Lesotho to see the impact of projects designed to help vulnerable children in the southern African nation access early formal schooling.

Federer met with key stakeholders in early childhood care and education, including His Majesty King Letsie III and Her Majesty Queen ’Masenate Mohato Seeiso, Minister of Education Ntoi Rapapa and representatives from the corporate and non-profit sectors.

_{^{Roger Federer poses with His Majesty King Letsie III and Her Majesty Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso at the Royal Palace in Matsieng, Lesotho, on 15 May 2023. Photo: Roger Federer Foundation.}}

He also visited primary schools that have already participated in the foundation’s School Readiness Initiative, where he interacted with children and parents who are benefitting directly from the programme.

“This is my first time visiting Lesotho,” said Federer, addressing an audience that included Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane. “It is a great honour and a moment of extreme excitement for me and my family to be here. I was eager to visit Lesotho as a country and also to see the School Readiness Initiative my foundation has been implementing since 2020 in partnership with you.

“The good reports about the positive results from our joint interventions and the excellent collaboration my team has experienced working with your government and other partners, has encouraged this urge to visit Lesotho.”

_{^{Roger Federer reads to some of the preschool children from a Semonkong school that benefitted from his Foundation’s School Readiness Initiative, 16 May 2023. Photo: Roger Federer Foundation.}}

The Roger Federer Foundation started its work in Lesotho in 2020 and aims to reach vulnerable children in 800 preschools by 2025 though the investment of 3 million USD. As part of its work, the School Readiness Initiative takes advantage of innovative technology to provide teachers with a tablet containing digital resources and Android applications.

“All children in Lesotho deserve access to equitable quality early education in public primary schools, yet the majority of ECCE is still being provided by the private sector,” said Federer. “This results in children from economically marginalised families being left out of schooling… The task at hand is therefore enormous and urgent if we are to avoid more generations of children missing out on quality foundational early learning.”

As well as Lesotho, the Roger Federer Foundation works to improve structured learning opportunities for pre-school age children in five other countries in southern Africa: Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It also supports a range of educational programmes in Switzerland. The organisation’s work has already impacted 2.5 million children in southern Africa and Switzerland.