By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, May 16, 2026
Photo credit: Internazionali BNL d’Italia Facebook
Seventeen hours after rain suspended semifinal play, Sinshine return to Rome.
It took Jannik Sinner a little less than 15 minutes to complete a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Daniil Medvedev and become the first Italian man in Open Era history to reach back-to-back Rome finals.
It is the sixth straight ATP Masters 1000 final for Sinner, who equals Novak Djokovic’s record for most consecutive Masters 1000 finals.
Foro Italico fans chanted “Jannik-Sinner! Jannik-Sinner!” after Sinner belted a backhand winner to wrap a two hour, 37-minute win that spanned two days.
“Yeah, I had to fight very, very hard yesterday. I knew before the match it could be very physical,” Sinner said. “First set I played really well, then the conditions became very, very heavy. It was tough to get through.
“But in the same time I tried to understand what’s working best. I tried to play with the best energy possible.
“Yesterday was very tough. Today everything can happen because you start again from zero basically. Obviously the position where I’ve been in was much better with break up. When we played today
was sunny, so different conditions. I’m happy that I got over the line.”
This record run from the home hero shows no signs of slowing despite Sinner seemingly suffering from cramping on Friday night.
A new day brought a familia result as Sinner scored a record-extending 33rd ATP Masters 1000 victory to join King of Clay Rafael Nadal as just the second man to reach five consecutive Masters finals to start a season.
Continuing his hunt to become the first Italian man since legendary Adriano Panatta in 1976 to win Rome and join Djokovic as the second man to collect all nine ATP Masters 1000 crowns, Sinner faces a familiar face in the final.
Wimbledon winner Sinner will play 23rd-seeded Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final.
Yesterday, Ruud rolled Italian Luciano Darderi, 6-1, 6-1, in a 65-minute thrashing to post his fourth Top 20 win of the tournament, power into his 27th career Tour-level final and spoil the prospect of an all-Italian final.
Sinner is 4-0 lifetime vs. former world No. 2 Ruud, including razing Ruud 6-0, 6-1 in a 2025 Rome quarterfinal thrashing that the two-time French Open finalist has not forgotten.
“I just have to try to approach it as any other match, try not to think about the big wave in front kind of with all the momentum he’s building, all the confidence and the records that he’s kind of building and breaking,” Ruud told the media in Rome. “At the end of the day he’s human. I have to try to think that
way as much as I can. Last year I was kind of blown out of the court by him. We will both remember it, of course. I hope that’s not the case.
“I will just try to stay in my lane, stay focused on the things I’m doing well, know that against him you have to not raise your level but two or three times in order to hang with him. That’s the goal I will think about for tomorrow in practice and the match.”
World No. 1 Sinner was dominant in the opening set on Friday then seemed to suffer cramping and sickness as Medvedev repeatedly ran the Italian in pursuit of his drop shots to snatch the second set. Sinner held a 6-2, 5-7, 4-2 when heavy rain suspended play at about 9:45 p.m. local time on Friday. The suspension came shortly after Sinner took a controversial medical timeout for treatment on his right leg that Medvedev suspected was cramping and voiced that view to the chair umpire.
When play resumed about 4:07 p.m. local time today, it took Medvedev one swing to hold for 3-4.
The 2023 Rome champion Medvedev saved two match points holding for 4-5.
Serving for a final return, Sinner smacked a crosscourt backhand to advance to his 38th Tour-level final, including his 14th ATP Masters 1000 title match.
Playing long corner-to-corner rallies in slower conditions last night, Medvedev seemed slightly fresher. Upon resumption today, Sinner was sharper and exuded more energy to close.
Asked if he felt Sinner was cramping last night, Medvedev suggested the physicality of rallies took a toll on both men.
“Look, it’s very tough to play him. So to win a point, you need to hit a lot of shots. I try to win the points, so I hit a lot of shots,” Medvedev said. “I don’t know if maybe there was something else, but the
points were physical. It was tough for me, as well. He was struggling. Whenever I play Novak, it’s a bit the same.
“Novak many times was struggling against me physically. Were there some other guys? I mean, I guess Rafa, I struggled physically. But it was the same story. We played many shots because that’s how I play as well. I don’t think there is more about this.
“Again, whenever someone is going to be good enough to play against Jannik in the baseline game, because there is no other way to win, it’s going to be struggle for both. We saw in Monte-Carlo, he was struggling as well, but he won.”