Tag: Italian Open

ROME: Seventh-ranked Holger Rune beat a frustrated Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in a rain-interrupted quarter-final at the Italian Open, where women’s top seed Iga Swiatek retired injured on Wednesday.

Serbian star Djokovic, who will drop to second in the world on Monday behind Carlos Alcaraz, admitted that he was outplayed in heavy, wet conditions after a week of rain in normally sunny Rome.

“This is probably the coldest, wettest tournament I’ve ever played here in Rome,” the 22-time Grand Slam winner said.

“I don’t recall so many days in a row (of) raining. In these conditions, it’s very difficult to get the ball past him.

“He’s a very talented, dynamic player – he was too good for me for most of the match,” Novak Djokovic added of Rune.

With her French Open title defence looming this month, Iga Swiatek retired in the third set of her quarter-final against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.

Poland’s Swiatek had roared through the first set but after receiving treatment she called a halt with a right leg injury to hand Wimbledon champion Rybakina a 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 2-2 win and a semi-final spot.

Victory in drizzle and evening chill came in just under two and a half hours as Iga Swiatek’s 14-match Italian Open win streak was ended.

Rybakina ended with 32 winners and 26 unforced errors, in a match Swiatek led by a set and 4-2.

“It’s never good to win like this,” Rybakina said. “I hope it’s nothing serious for Iga.

“I’m glad to win, every match I play on clay gives me more confidence,” she added. “I didn’t start well but in the second set I found my rhythm.”

Rybakina will now take on former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko, who defeated Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Denmark’s Rune will line up against Casper Ruud in the semi-finals after the Norwegian fourth seed defeated Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Argentina’s Cerundolo committed nearly 50 unforced errors and could not prevent 2022 Roland Garros finalist Ruud from reaching a third consecutive Rome semi.

“I’m back in Rome and feeling great,” Ruud said. “I’ve had success in Italy.

“Maybe it’s something in the food, there are a lot of reasons to be motivated here.

“It’s great to be back in the semi-finals, I hope it will be a fun one.”

Six-time champion Novak Djokovic was carrying an unspecified injury into the match as he lost for a second time to the rising 20-year-old Dane, who bested him to win the Masters 1000 at Paris Bercy last November.

The latest contest between the pair was marred by spats with the chair umpire by both players — Novak Djokovic on a time warning and Rune over a second-set line call.

Play was halted for just over an hour by rain. Shortly after the match began, Djokovic requested extra towels to pad his lower back on the bench during most changeovers.

He has also suffered with a right elbow problem in recent weeks which caused him to miss the Madrid event and put his pre-Roland Garros preparation behind schedule.

He was treated by the trainer and tournament doctor after the third game of the second set and given a painkiller before playing on.

The exit of Djokovic — combined with that of Alcaraz this week – left the men’s field wide open at the Foro Italico.

Between them, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have won 16 of the last 18 editions here; the last time one of the pair did not figure in a Rome final was 2004.

Rune is only the sixth player to defeat Djokovic in the Italian Open.

“This is really a big win for me,” Rune said. “Every match against Novak is a huge challenge. He’s one of the greatest to ever play the game. “I was proud of myself and enjoyed every minute out there.”

“I have to stay humble, I still have a lot to achieve. I’m a huge fighter on court, I leave everything out there. I had to fight hard and play my best tennis,” he added. “I’m a big fan of Novak; he’s a huge inspiration. He puts huge pressure on you — I had to stay brave.”

Djokovic was playing his 17th consecutive Rome quarter-final, falling to 13-4.

Tomas Berdych was the last player to beat him in the last eight in Rome back in 2013. His Rome record dropped to 67-11 as his bid for a seventh title ended after two hours, 18 minutes with 35 unforced errors in only his fourth loss of the season.

ROME: Novak Djokovic eased into the Italian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday after breezing past Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4, although there was tension with the Briton after the top seed was hit by a smash.

The Serb has reached the last eight in each of his previous 16 appearances in the Italian Open and he did again on Tuesday, getting past Norrie on centre court to set up a clash with Holger Rune.

It will be a rematch of last year’s Paris Masters final, when the young Dane won his first Masters 1000 title by beating Novak Djokovic in a thrilling match.

“Even though he’s really young, I know his game quite well. He’s been on the tour now for last few years playing some great tennis, particularly in the last I would say six to eight months,” said Djokovic.

“He’s in very good form and I look forward to a challenge. I think it’s going to be a very physical match.”

Djokovic is gunning for a seventh title on clay in Rome and his chances have been made a little bit easier by the shock elimination of Carlos Alcaraz on Monday.

Alcaraz, who won two consecutive tournaments at Barcelona and Madrid, will take world number one spot from Djokovic on May 22 but it is the 22-time Grand Slam champion who could go into Roland Garros with yet another title under his belt.

Novak Djokovic won the first three games against Norrie and closed out the first set with little fuss, without needing to be at his best.

The 35-year-old then took the second set to 2-1 with a break, but in the next game Norrie broke back while angering Djokovic with a smash which hit him on the back of his left leg.

Norrie had the whole court to put the ball away as Djokovic had given up on the point and was walking back to the service line.

Norrie raised his hand to apologise but at the changeover after the Briton moved to 3-2 Djokovic gave him another long beady-eyed stare as he passed him.

And after Djokovic sealed victory with his second match point he gave Norrie a cursory handshake at the net, while avoiding eye contact and exchanging no words with his dispatched opponent.

Novak Djokovic later explained that he had been irritated by Norrie’s on-court behaviour since the start of the match, doing “things that we players know in the locker room it’s not fair play”.

“He’s very nice guy off the court, so I don’t understand this kind of attitude on the court, to be honest. But it is what it is. He brought the fire, and I responded to that,” said Djokovic.

“I’m not going to allow someone behaving like this just bending my head. I’m going to respond to that.

“That’s all it is. What happens on the court, we leave it on the court, and we move on.”

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in a third-round match of Italian Open which was suspended on Monday due to the rain, and will take on another Italian in Lorenzo Musetti in the last 16 on Tuesday night.

Iga Swiatek will bid to continue her blistering start to the Italian Open when she faces Donna Vekic.

World number one Swiatek has won 13 straight matches in Rome and her bid for a third title in as many years has been boosted by seeds two to six all being eliminated.

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ROME: World number one Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock third-round defeat in the Italian Open at the hands of unheralded Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Monday.

The 20-year-old Spaniard had come into the tournament on the back of wins in Barcelona and Madrid but was outplayed by Marozsan, who is ranked 135th in the world.

Marozsan, 23, won the final six points of the second-set tiebreaker to hand the US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz a wake-up call with the French Open starting in less than a fortnight.

Marozsan, who next plays Borna Coric for a place in the Italian Open quarter-finals, had not won a match on the ATP Tour prior to the tournament — indeed this is the first time he has qualified for the main draw at a tournament on the Tour.

“Everything was perfect today, I was doing my job,” the winner said. “I cannot imagine this win, even if it was my dream last night.

“I thought I might win a few games or a set.

“I tried to hit back every ball, I was trying to do my best.”

Marozsan produced 24 winners in a victory which took an hour and three quarters.

“I had hoped I could do something special,” he said. “Now I’ve just beaten the best in the sport so I’m very happy.”

Carlos Alcaraz now stands 30-3 on the season as he prepares to head to Roland Garros as top seed for the first time at a Grand Slam.

In other results at the ATP-WTA tournament, sixth seed Andrey Rublev defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (10/8), 6-3.

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ROME: Novak Djokovic fought his way into the third round of the Italian Open on Friday, beating Tomas Etcheverry 7-5 (7/6), 6-2 in a surprisingly tight encounter.

A six-time winner in Rome, the world number one was made to work by the 61st-ranked Argentine, prevailing in one hour, 51 minutes to set up a third-round clash with Grigor Dimitrov who beat Stan Wawrinka.

Novak Djokovic, a 22-time Grand Slam title winner, has not been knocked out of an ATP Tour event at the first attempt since the Monte Carlo Masters last year.

Still nursing an injury to his right elbow he had to battle his way past Etcheverry, winning the first set via a tie-break before finally ensuring passage into the next round.

“I’ve said before that this surface requires more time for me than maybe for other players to get myself to a good level, move well and hit the ball well. Rome has always been a tournament that I need for Roland Garros,” said Djokovic who was plagued by 21 unforced errors in the opener.

Djokovic appeared unwell at 5-5 in the first set and took a tablet in the changeover.

“You act like you’re 100 per cent,” Djokovic said.

“Most of the times I guess you’re not, but you want to show your opponent that you’re out there trying to fight for every ball. I guess that’s what happened, it’s kind of cat-and-mouse always on clay.”

Novak Djokovic, 35, has made 12 finals in Rome and said Thursday that he was feeling good ahead of the tournament despite missing last week’s Madrid Masters.

Wearing an elbow brace he made a slow start, dropping his serve in the first game and struggling to deal with the Argentine’s powerful shots.

The first set hinged on a scrappy game six, in which Djokovic broke to level the scores following a battle at deuce.

From there, the set went with the serve until Djokovic won the final four points in the tie-break to take the lead.

Novak Djokovic then kicked up a level, breaking serve in the first and seventh games of the second set to give the match a more straightforward look than Etcheverry’s performance deserved.

World number seven Holger Rune marked his Rome debut with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Arthur Fils of France.

“He made it tough. He’s young, younger than me. It feels kind of crazy because I think this is the second time in my life I’m playing someone that’s younger,” said 20-year-old Rune.

World number one Iga Swiatek started her bid to win a third straight Italian Open WTA title by demolishing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 6-0.

Losing finalist in Madrid last weekend, Swiatek looked in great form in the tournament she won last year before going on to blitz the French Open even though she is shaking off a rib injury suffered at Indian Wells.

“I still may feel some discomfort, but it is really, really low. Even when I withdrew from Miami, the pain was low. It was just the risk of getting it worse that stopped me,” Swiatek told reporters.

The Pole’s path to another Rome title opened up on Thursday when world number two and third-ranked Jessica Pegula were knocked out.

Swiatek faces Lesia Tsurenko in the Italian Open last 32 after extending her winning streak in the Italian capital to 12 matches.

Last year’s losing finalist, fourth seed Ons Jabeur fell 6-1, 6-4 to Paula Badosa.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has had calf problems in recent weeks, an injury which caused her to retire in the semi-finals at Stuttgart and not defend her Madrid title.

Badosa will face world number 27 Marta Kostyuk in the third round.

Earlier, Jannik Sinner cruised into the men’s last 32 with a straight-sets win over Thanasi Kokkinakis, 6-1, 6-4.

World number eight Sinner took one hour, 18 minutes to deal with the Australian qualifier and will play Russian Alexander Shevchenko, who beat Argentine Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-4.

Rome has not seen an Italian tournament winner since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

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ROME: World number one Novak Djokovic outclassed Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the Italian Open 2022 – his first title of the year – here on Sunday.

Djokovic, who recently completed his 1000th ATP tour-level victories in a semi-final victory against Casper Ruud, carried on his exceptional form to overcome the Greek Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6(5) in the final.

Despite being 4-1 down against Tsitsipas in the second set, Djokovic marked an exceptional comeback as he won five of the next seven sets to take it to a tiebreak before winning the decider and sealing his sixth Italian Open title.

The 34-years-old enjoyed a perfect week as he recently became just the fifth player in the Open Era to complete 1000 tour-level wins after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, and Rafa Nadal.

In the women’s category of the Italian Open, Iga Swiatek outclassed Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to win her fifth consecutive title.

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ROME: The Serbian Tennis star Novak Djokovic outclassed his Canadian opponent Felix Auger-Aliassaime 7-5, 7-6(1) to qualify for the Italian Open semi-finals, here on Friday.

In an intense quarter-final, the Serb marked exceptional comebacks in each set by regrouping from 5-3 to close out in style and secured his 999th tour-level win.

Both Auger-Aliassime and Djokovic showed off their shotmaking and movement capabilities, drawing each other wide with severe angles and up to the net with well-timed drop shots. But the veteran kept his calm and displayed great resilience and consistency to see off his young Canadian opponent.

Djokovic dominated Auger-Aliassime in most of the match by hitting 27 percent of his shots, eight more than his previous tournament average. He also converted 78 percent of his attacking advantage points, while seizing 34% of defensive points.

Following this victory, Djokovic will now return to the top of the ATP Live Rankings by adding 360 points for reaching the semi-finals.

The Serbian will now face Casper Ruud in search of his 1000th tour-level victory in the Italian Open semi-final. If he makes it to the final, Belgrade’s native will be chasing a record-extending 38th ATP Masters 1000 championship.

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ROME: The Canadian Tennis player Denis Shapovalov engineered a stunning comeback to defeat an ailing Rafael Nadal 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the Italian Open quarter-finals, here on Thursday.

Shapovalov, who had Nadal on the brink of the defeat in the previous edition of the Italian Open creating two match points before losing in a third-set tie-break, has now managed to settle his scores with the Spaniard following a brilliant victory in the Round of 16 of the ongoing edition.

Nadal, who was struggling with an apparent foot injury, set the tone early in the match as he secured the first set by a scoreline of 6-1. Shapovalov, on the other hand, maintained his threat and fired back at his opponent in the remaining two sets.

The 10th time Italian Open champion Nadal showed grit but with his movement restricted, Shapovalov took full advantage to run away with the match.

Shapovalov, who rose to the 15th rank this week in the latest ATP Live Rankings can reach as high as the 11th by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title here.

The Canadian next faces the fifth seed Casper Ruud, who reached the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000s in Monte Carlo and Madrid last season but has yet to reach that stage this year on the continent.

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ROME: The legendary Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal started his Italian Open 2022 campaign on a high as he thrashed his American opponent John Isner 6-3, 6-1 in the second round. 

Nadal, who has a strong record at the Italian Open, seemed at ease in his first match of the season against Isner, using his signature spinning groundstrokes to counteract the latter’s massive serves.

After squandering two break points at 3-3 in the first set, the unseeded Isner struggled to regain any momentum as Nadal dominated the second to improve to a 69-7 match record at the Italian Open.

The win over Isner has prevented the 10-times Italian Open champion, Nadal, from losing two consecutive matches on clay court as the Spaniard suffered an astonishing defeat by his countrymate and the eventual Madrid Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals last week.

The Spaniard next faces another North American star Denis Shapovalov in the third round. The two players last came face to face in a memorable semi-final of the Italian Open 2021.

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