Daniil Medvedev wins Italian Open to hand Novak Djokovic French Open body blow

Daniil Medvedev won his maiden title on clay as he defeated Holger Rune in straight sets in the Italian Open final and the victory also earned him the second seed at the French Open ahead of Novak Djokovic.
Former US Open champion Medvedev has always maintained that he is not a fan of clay yet his form on the surface the past few weeks suggests he is starting to come to grips with the red dirt.
After following up his run to the quarter-final at the Monte Carlo Masters with a fourth-round exit at the Madrid Open, the former world No 1 went all the way in Rome as he defeated rising star Rune 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 42 minutes at Foro Italico.
He beat fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas by the same scoreline in the semi-final, although he will probably be the first to admit that he got quite lucky on Sunday that it didn’t go to a deciding set as Rune wasted several opportunities in the second set.
Having saved two break points in the fifth game, the Russian broke in game 12 to wrap up the opening set.
However, Rune hit back immediately in the opening game of the second set as he broke to love. Yet Medvedev drew level in game four only for the Dane to break again – this time to love in game seven to lead 4-3.
Rune then came out to serve for the set in game 10 and it didn’t go according to plan as he made four unforced errors as Medvedev broke back.
The third seed then held serve before going all in as he found himself with three match points at 0-40. The first one was saved before the former world No 1 completed the job at the second time of asking.
ATP Rankings and French Open seedings
Medvedev missed last year’s Italian Open as he was out injured and he leaves Rome with 1,000 ranking points, taking his tally to 6,330, which is good enough for second place in the rankings and the second seed at Roland Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz was always assured moving to the top of the ATP Rankings following his second-round win at Foro Italico as he moved to 6,815 points, but Djokovic will now drop to third behind Medvedev following his quarter-final defeat to Rune.
With the French Tennis Federation using the ATP Rankings for the seedings, it means Alcaraz will be seeded top and he is followed by Medvedev, Djokovic, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rune – who is now at a career-high No 6 – Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Of course it means that Alcaraz and Djokovic could end up in the same half of the draw and potentially meet in the semi-final, instead of the final.
Latest
-
News
Maria Sakkari reveals how tearful US Open exit became an inspiration
Maria Sakkari says that the love and support she received from fans and even colleagues after her US Open exit helped inspire her.
-
Tennis Features
Six ways clay courts are superior to hard courts
Clay courts often get a bad rap with the odd player gripe repeated endlessly in the media, but the surface has a number of big upsides.
-
Tennis News
WATCH: Intense Felix Auger-Aliassime brushes off Laver Cup spat with Gael Monfils
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gael Monfils shared some heated moments after the Canadian complained to the umpire during their Laver Cup clash.
-
ATP Tour
More questions for Andy Murray to answer after another agonising defeat
Andy Murray blew an early lead as he crashed to defeat against Aslan Karatsev in the last 16.
-
Tennis News
Roger Federer reveals what he misses about tennis as Rafael Nadal surprises him
Speaking in an interview with former world No 1 Jim Courier at the Laver Cup, the 20-time Grand Slam champion reflected on how his life chan
-
US Open
Top coach spotted Coco Gauff’s potential very early on
Patrick Mouratoglou has revealed that Coco Gauff left a big impression on him during their first meeting.
-
Tennis News
British star set for rankings breakthrough after a decade on the ATP Tour
Liam Broady set to break into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
-
Tennis News
Guadalajara proves a balm for Maria Sakkari’s suffering once again
Maria Sakkari feels that the bond between herself and Guadalajara has grown closer after another deep run in the Mexican city.
-
Tennis News
Novak Djokovic hits raw nerve with tennis chiefs after latest controversial comments
Djokovic has made some radical proposals that would ensure the huge amounts of cash being generated by gambling goes to tennis players.
-
Tennis News
Ben Shelton salutes the three players who have taken him under their wing
Ben Shelton has paid homage to the brotherhood of the top American men in the game.