Daniil Medvedev will play in his first ATP Masters 1000 final after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Italian Open in Rome.
It was a highly anticipated meeting between the two rivals and not only because for good reasons. Medvedev and Tsitsipas even skipped the customary joint picture ahead of the match and it had all the necessary spices for a high-quality semifinal meeting.
The two met on the clay courts only twice in the past, with each player winning one match, and even though the Greek had much more success on this surface in the past, it seemed that Medvedev was in much better form and finally found his footing on the surface.
But the match had to be stopped multiple times in the first set due to rain, but it still was a nice show for the fans at Foro Italico. Medvedev got an early break in the first set, but Tsitsipas broke back to make it four games each when the match was suspended due to the rain.
After one more game, in which the Greek held his serve, the match was suspended once more but after the players returned to the court one last time, the match continued without any further interruptions.
The rain delay didn't really help Tsitsipas as his opponent won give consecutive games after returning to the court and won the first set 7-5, also leading 2-0 with one break in the second set of the match.
The Greek was able to break back once again, but the last three games were dominated by the Russian once more. Medvedev won the match 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 47 minutes, in a match that in reality took around six hours to finish, to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final in which he will take on Holger Rune who bested Casper Ruud earlier on Saturday.
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