Medvedev makes his mark on clay by beating Rune for Italian Open title

Daniil Medvedev hadn't won a single match in his three previ‐ ous appearances at the Italian Open.

Now he's won the tournament. The Russian beat rising 20‐ year‐old Danish player Holger Rune 7‐5, 7‐5 on Sunday for the first clay‐court trophy of a career that includes the 2021 U.S. Open title and a period at No. 1 in the rankings.

Medvedev was previously known almost exclusively for his prowess on hard courts, with 18 of his previous 19 titles coming on that surface — the other was on grass in Mallorca. But he now must be considered a contender at the French Open — the clay‐ court Grand Slam — which starts next Sunday.

There's room for a new cham‐ pion at Roland Garros after 14‐ time winner Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he won't be competing in the tour‐ nament because of a lingering hip injury that has sidelined him since January.

"Honestly, I didn't believe much I can win a Masters 1000 on clay in my career because usually I hated it. I hated playing on it. I don't feel good on it, like nothing was working," Medvedev said.

"(But) before this tournament already in Madrid and Monte Carlo, I was kind of feeling not too bad. I didn't have any big tantrums," Medvedev added. "I came here and I felt amazing on practice. ... I was like, 'I don't know what's happening, but I feel amazing. Let's see how it goes.' But then you need to play the toughest opponents in the world to try to make it. And I'm really happy that I managed to do it and prove myself and everybody that I'm capable of doing it."

Medvedev also felt great after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the semifinals, after which he celebrated with a little dance.

Rune, who eliminated six‐time Rome champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, should also leave the Foro Italico confident for Paris. He was also the runner‐ up to Andrey Rublev at the Monte Carlo Masters last month and then won a clay title in Mu‐ nich.

The final started nearly two hours late due to a rain delay — a day after the Medvedev‐Tsitsi‐ pas match was interrupted by rain suspensions for a total of nearly 4 ½ hours.

Earlier Sunday, organizers an‐ nounced that they plan to install a retractable roof over Campo Centrale by 2026.

When the new rankings are re‐ leased on Monday, Medvedev will rise to No. 2 and Carlos Al‐ caraz will return to No. 1, while Djokovic will drop from No. 1 to No. 3. Alcaraz, Medvedev and

Djokovic therefore will be seeded first, second and third, respectively, at the French Open.

When Medvedev broke Rune's serve to win the first set, he did it by producing a blistering back‐ hand return cross‐court winner from deep in the corner and then ran down a drop shot with ease to set up a comfortable forehand winner.

Rune hung his hands on his knees when Medvedev won a draining 21‐shot rally midway through the second.

Medvedev missed two swing‐ ing forehand volleys to hand Rune a break and a 4‐3 lead in the second but Rune couldn't serve it out and Medvedev evened the set at 5‐5 and then broke again in the final game.

When Rune's forehand was overruled by the chair umpire and called out on Medvedev's second championship point, Medvedev dropped down to the clay on his knees to celebrate.

"I have to say thanks to Carlos (Bernades, the chair umpire)," Medvedev said. "Because I actu‐ ally felt the last ball was in. And it was out by far. … Thanks a lot. Otherwise, I would continue the point."

"I mean, who would have thought that I would be standing here? I honestly didn't," Medvedev said toward his box during the trophy presentation. "I don't know about you guys, but I honestly didn't think so. But it happened."

Medvedev dropped only one set — to Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the third round — over his six matches.

Italian Open organizers promise a retractable roof over the tennis court by 2026

At the conclusion of one of the tournament's wettest editions, Italian Open organizers have promised to install a retractable roof over the tennis court by 2026.

"The roof is coming," Vito Coz‐ zoli, the CEO of the Italian gov‐ ernment agency Sport e Salute, said Sunday. "The feasibility plan has been approved and it will be a futuristic project that will make the Foro Italico's center court us‐ able year round."

On Saturday, the semifinal be‐ tween Daniil Medvedev and Ste‐ fanos Tsitsipas was suspended due to rain for a total of nearly 4 ½ hours — which pushed the start of the women's final back to nearly 11 p.m.

The start of the men's final on Sunday featuring Holger Rune against Medvedev was also de‐ layed due to rain.

Eight to 10 months are still re‐ quired to obtain the necessary building permits for the roof. Then construction would go on for 18‐24 months, with breaks taken during the 2024 and 2025 tournaments.

The arena could then also be used for indoor sports like bas‐ ketball and volleyball, as well as host indoor concerts. Also, 2,000 more seats will be added to Campo Centrale, raising the ca‐ pacity to 12,500.

After a bidding process that in‐ cluded 33 different proposals, the roof design contract was awarded to the Genoa‐based Frigerio Design Group.

This year's tournament fea‐ tured expanded 96‐player draws for both men and women after the tournament was upgraded and held over two weeks.

The Campo Centrale stadium opened in 2010 and a roof plan has been in the works for years without any concrete progress.