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World No 1 Janic Cena went within two games of the Italian Open final against Casper Rudd, before heavy rain postponed his semi-final against Daniil Medvedev on Friday, with the home favorite leading 6-2 5-7 4-2.
Play resumes at 2pm BST on Saturday before the women’s singles final between Coco Gough and Elina Svitolina (no earlier than 4pm) – Sky Sports Tennis Live.
Victory for Sinner in Rome would see the 24-year-old join Novak Djokovic as the only other player to win nine ATP Masters 1000 events for a career Golden Masters.
Cena opened the semi-finals in front of an enthusiastic Campo Centrale by playing perfect tennis – missing just three first serves in the first four games – before sealing the set in double-quick time.
It looked unlikely that Medvedev would be able to turn the match on its head until a drop in intensity from the Italian allowed his opponent to move forward with a chance to extend his lead to 4-0. But Cena hit back despite looking ragged in the middle of the points.
The set was heading to a tie-break until Medvedev took advantage of a struggling Sinner, who struggled to catch his breath after the point, bending several times to try to recover, to force a decider.
Sinar is struggling to catch his breath after getting a point in the second set
It looked like Cena’s pursuit of his sixth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title was in jeopardy when he called his medical team for cramps.
He then appeared rejuvenated and responded immediately in the third, securing an early break to fire up the crowd and seize control of the match.
Play in Rome was called off due to rain and the organizers announced that the match would resume on Saturday.
Rudd reached the final in Rome for the first time
Casper Ruud advanced to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he got past a tired Luciano Darderi.
The winner will face Norway’s Kasper Rudd in the final after the Norwegian kept his focus to reach the final for the first time by beating home player Luciano Darderi 6-1 6-1 during a nearly two-hour rain delay.
The match was suspended after a two-hour rain delay with Rudd leading 4-1 in the first set.
Recovering, the Norwegian won five of the next six points to close out the set before going 4-0 up in the second set, and when Darderi offered some resistance on the return, he was unable to take a break-point lifeline chance, with Rudd cruising to victory.
The 20th-ranked Darderi, who was born in Argentina to a family of Italian descent, saved four match points in a three-set victory over Alexander Zverev in the fourth round before winning another marathon match against Spaniard Rafael Zodar in a quarterfinal clash that ended at 2 p.m.
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Rudd’s highlights against Darderi from the Italian Open
“It feels great,” Rudd said. “I’m a bit sorry for Luciano, playing at home and not with the most energy, but it’s understandable.
“It was a tournament and luckily for me I was done earlier in the day and had a bit more time to recover. It’s my 10th semi-final in the 1000 and his first, so you try to use that experience to your advantage and I think I did well today.”
Ruud has reached two French Open finals, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Novak Djokovic in 2023.
The last big warm-up in Rome before the second Grand Slam of the year starts on Sunday 24 May.
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