Italian Open: Andy Murray wins on comeback, Cameron Norrie loses
Andy Murray’s return to competitive action ends in a gutsy win alongside fellow Briton Liam Broady in the Italian Open doubles.
Andy Murray’s return to competitive action ends in a gutsy win alongside fellow Briton Liam Broady in the Italian Open doubles.
Stefanos Tsitsipas passed an opening-round test against Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
“Sometimes I need to adjust my game and Marin is someone I respect a lot,” Tsitsipas said on-court. “I knew he was going to come out here and play his best tennis.”
The Greek improved to 28-7 this season, which tied him back up with Andrey Rublev for most wins after Rublev beat Jan-Lennard Struff earlier on Wednesday. Though Tsitsipas lost in the third round in Madrid, the World No. 5 is filled with confidence after winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. He’s also a former semi-finalist in Rome (2019).
Cilic is 0-11 against Top 10 opponents dating back to his 2018 Australian Open win over Rafael Nadal. He’s now 8-8 on the season.
[WATCH LIVE 1]In a competitive first set, Tsitsipas pounced at 6-5 to break Cilic for the first time when it mattered the most. He had full control of the match from there with Cilic hitting 23 unforced errors to Tsitsipas’ 13.
“He made me move a lot,” Tsitsipas said. “It was quite tricky to adjust to that at the beginning, but towards the very end of the first set I stayed calm and I stayed resilient. I had to play deep on the returns and find solutions from the baseline rallies. Obviously, that worked well for me from 6-5.”
Tsitsipas next faces Matteo Berrettini, who beat John Millman 6-4, 6-2. The Italian will have the home-court advantage when fans return on Thursday. Tsitsipas feels right at home in Rome though, and enjoyed the scenery Pietrangeli stadium had to offer.
“[Pietrangeli] itself is very beautiful; it’s one of the best courts on tour,” Tsitsipas said. “I feel like the atmosphere here is great. We’re surrounded by trees in the city and it’s very, very quiet which is important for tennis. And honestly, I can’t wait for the fans to come and fill in the stadium.”
Berrettini continued his great serving form from his final run in Madrid. He faced zero break points, giving him freedom to go for more on return games. He broke the Aussie to start the second set and ran away with the match quickly from there.
Since his debut in 2017, the World No. 9 has improved with each appearance in Rome, reaching the second round in 2018, the third round in 2019, and the quarter-finals in 2020. He will have a tough challenge next in Tsitsipas, who beat him in their only meeting at the 2019 Australian Open.
Andy Murray “sure deserves” a wildcard for the French Open, tournament director Guy Forget says.
Aslan Karatsev took out third seed Daniil Medvedev at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes. He moves into the third round where Reilly Opelka awaits.
Karatsev and Medvedev were facing off for the first time, but the Russians had familiarity with each other’s games having won the ATP Cup together this year. At the time, Karatsev was delegated to doubles behind singles stars Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Although Medvedev is at a career-high World No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Karatsev is now 21-6 this season with an ATP 500 title in Dubai. Medvedev has yet to find his rhythm on clay with an early exit in Madrid and now Rome.
Until Wednesday, Medvedev had a flawless 6-0 record versus fellow Russians dating back to the start of 2019. It marks Karatsev’s second Top 5 win in the past month after upsetting World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Belgrade.
With Medvedev coming out slow, Karatsev made the first move with a break for 3-2 followed by a second break to lengthen his lead to 5-2. The World No. 27 served it out comfortably, winning 90 per cent of his first-serve points across the match and needing to save just one break point.
Karatsev used his forehand and aggressive court positioning to put pressure on Medvedev, who was passive from start to finish. Karatsev maintained his focus in the second set and a series of slick winners, including a flick-of-the-wrist forehand passing shot and a sharp volley, helped him get a break for 4-3. It was smooth sailing from there to serve it out.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka suffers her second straight defeat on clay by losing to Jessica Pegula in the Italian Open second round.
Watch as Novak Djokovic shouts at the umpire during his Italian Open second-round win against Taylor Fritz over playing conditions.
Alexander Zverev arrives in Rome having to make a quick adjustment from the altittude in Madrid, where on Sunday he lifted his fourth ATP Masters 1000 trophy. But the German doesn’t mind doing so as he gets set for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, which he won in 2017.
“It’s a good problem to have. If you are coming so late from Madrid, it means you’ve done well,” Zverev said. “I would like to have that problem always at tournaments.”
Zverev is fresh off an impressive performance at the Caja Magica, where he beat Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini en route to the crown. Before Madrid, he did not win more than one match at each of his previous three tournaments.
“It was a week that I didn’t expect to be honest,” Zverev admitted. “Obviously I’m extremely happy with winning my fourth Masters [1000 event], my second in Madrid. It was a week that I think I’ll remember.”
Now the trick will be to keep his level high in Rome, where he owns an 11-3 record. In addition to his championship run in 2017, Zverev made the final in 2018, when only Nadal was able to stop him.
“Usually when I find my form, I don’t have a problem maintaining it. If you look at the past history a little bit, when I won Madrid in 2018, I made finals here,” Zverev said. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to make finals here again. I hope I can continue this.
“This is obviously a completely different event, completely different conditions. I need some getting used to time. Yeah, I hope I continue playing the same way. We’ll see how that goes then.”
The sixth seed will begin his tournament against Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien, whom he beat in the Geneva quarter-finals two years ago in three sets. The winner will play Kei Nishikori, whom Zverev defeated 6-3, 6-2 in the second round in Madrid last week.
“I’m looking forward to this week,” Zverev said. “I’m looking forward to being able to back my form up. I hope I can do that.”
On a rainy Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Kevin Krawietz teamed up with Horia Tecau to take out Marin Cilic and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-2. Krawietz and Tecau have appeared in the Barcelona and Rotterdam finals together this year.
Seventh seeds Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer beat Italian wild cards Marco Cecchinato and Stefano Travaglia 4-6, 6-1, 10-7. Koolhof is seeking his second title of the season after winning Munich with Krawietz.
In the only other completed match, Lukasz Kubot and Franko Skugor beat Greek sibling duo Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7), 6-3.
When there’s a rain delay like there was on Tuesday evening at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, nobody sees what the players do once off the court. So what happens as they wait out the weather indoors?
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic brought fans behind the scenes after he finished off Taylor Fritz in straight sets. The Serbian explained how he passed the nearly three hours of time between leaving Center Court and returning later in the evening.
“We played a social game. It wasn’t Uno, it was Parcheesi,” Djokovic said. “We do play that daily now. We try to kill some time with that.”
Last year, Djokovic spoke about how much his team enjoyed playing UNO, a card game. But now they are having fun with Parcheesi, which Rafael Nadal has long played with his team.
The Serbian acknowledged that there is a fair amount of uncertainty during rain delays, especially when it comes to figuring out when play will resume. That affects when the player has to warm up and eat, among other things.
“Every half an hour it’s a checkpoint, and they will let you know whether the match is postponed or they’re going to call it or they’re just going to call it a night, then you have to go to hotel,” Djokovic said. “Also with eating, whether you rest or you get some sleep or not. You really have to feel yourself and know what’s best for you. Sometimes if you fall asleep, wake up, maybe it takes time to get those engines moving.”
On Tuesday, the World No. 1 didn’t take a nap. Instead, he spent the delay with his team.
“I was awake. I was listening to some music, talked to my coach about his observation of my game, what needs to be done better. But we also had some fun,” Djokovic said. “I spoke to my kids. There’s always something to do. I was definitely not bored.”
Djokovic will next play Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Briton Cameron Norrie for a spot in the quarter-finals. The top seed is pursuing his sixth title at the Foro Italico this week.
Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal will take the court Wednesday against Jannik Sinner at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The 34-year-old has faced the #NextGenATP star just once before, beating him at Roland Garros last year in straight sets.
“I try my best every single day, doesn’t matter the opponent,” Nadal said. “Tomorrow I need to play well, of course. I know he’s playing well. I know he’s going to be excited about the match. So am I.”
Nadal and Sinner were also practice partners during the lead-up to the Australian Open. Sinner recently cracked the Top 20 in the FedEx ATP Rankings after reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 in Miami and upsetting Andrey Rublev on his way to the Barcelona semi-finals.
“I think the past couple of weeks have been quite good,” Sinner said. “I have to say starting from Miami, then coming back on clay, I played actually the first week quite well in Monte-Carlo. So [that] gave me a little bit of confidence for Barcelona and I played some good matches there.”
Third seed Daniil Medvedev will face off against countryman Aslan Karatsev after rain cancelled their match on Tuesday. It will be their first ATP Head2Head meeting.
Karatsev is 20-6 this season while Medvedev has yet to find his footing on clay. After testing positive for COVID-19 in Monte-Carlo, he lost in the third round of Madrid. Karatsev is 7-3 on clay after a final run in Belgrade saw him take out World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Dominic Thiem will open his Rome campaign against Marton Fucsovics. Thiem won their only meeting two years ago in Hamburg and enters the week on the heels of a semi-final appearance in Madrid. Fucsovics, a finalist in Rotterdam in March, is seeking his first clay-court win of the season.
Elsewhere, Madrid champion Alexander Zverev will take on qualifier Hugo Dellien and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic. Madrid finalist and home favorite Matteo Berrettini plays his second-round against John Millman and seventh seed Rublev will battle Jan-Lennard Struff.
[WATCH LIVE 1]ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2021
CENTER COURT start 10:00 am
[4] D. Thiem (AUT) vs M. Fucsovics (HUN)
WTA – S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP) vs [7] A. Sabalenka (BLR)
Not Before 2.00PM
WTA – [8] S. Williams (USA) vs N. Podoroska (ARG)
[9] M. Berrettini (ITA) vs J. Millman (AUS)
Not Before 6:00 pm
J. Sinner (ITA) vs [2] R. Nadal (ESP)
GRAND STAND ARENA start 10:00 am
[10] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) vs C. Garin (CHI)
[WC] G. Mager (ITA) vs L. Sonego (ITA)
A. Karatsev (RUS) vs [3] D. Medvedev (RUS)
WTA – [4] S. Kenin (USA) vs B. Krejcikova (CZE)
PIETRANGELI start 10:00 am
WTA – [1] A. Barty (AUS) vs [DA SR] Y. Shvedova (KAZ)
WTA – J. Pegula (USA) vs [2] N. Osaka (JPN)
[6] A. Zverev (GER) vs [Q] H. Dellien (BOL)
M. Cilic (CRO) vs [5] S. Tsitsipas (GRE)
[13] D. Shapovalov (CAN) vs [WC] S. Travaglia (ITA)
COURT 1 start 10:00 am
WTA – [9] K. Pliskova (CZE) vs A. Sevastova (LAT)
WTA – [Q] V. Zvonareva (RUS) vs [11] P. Kvitova (CZE)
[Q] F. Delbonis (ARG) vs [12] D. Goffin (BEL)
[WC] L. Sonego (ITA) / A. Vavassori (ITA) vs A. Mannarino (FRA) / B. Paire (FRA)
COURT 4 start 10:00 am
[Q] C. Norrie (GBR) vs [Q] A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
J. Struff (GER) vs [7] A. Rublev (RUS)
[1] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs [WC] F. Fognini (ITA) / L. Musetti (ITA)
A. de Minaur (AUS) / J. Struff (GER) vs [3] I. Dodig (CRO) / F. Polasek (SVK)
M. Purcell (AUS) / L. Saville (AUS) vs [Alt] L. Broady (GBR) / A. Murray (GBR)
S. Gille (BEL) / J. Vliegen (BEL) vs [5] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)
COURT 6 start 10:00 am
WTA – D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Klepac (SLO) vs [6] H. Chan (TPE) / L. Chan (TPE)
WTA – [ND] A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) / M. Niculescu (ROU) vs [8] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / A. Muhammad (USA)
[Alt] M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Middelkoop (NED) vs D. Evans (GBR) / N. Skupski (GBR)
A. Bublik (KAZ) / C. Garin (CHI) vs [2] N. Mektic (CRO) / M. Pavic (CRO)
[4] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG) vs A. Molteni (ARG) / D. Schwartzman (ARG)
M. Gonzalez (ARG) / F. Martin (FRA) vs R. Klaasen (RSA) / B. McLachlan (JPN)