Sinner battles through restless night to reach Italian Open final on home soil

World number one Jannik Sinner endured an unusually restless night before completing a rain-delayed semifinal win over Daniil Medvedev on Saturday, advancing to the Italian Open final in front of his home crowd.

The top seed came through 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in a match that had been suspended on Friday due to heavy rain, with Sinner holding a 4-2 lead in the deciding set when play was called off. Resuming the following morning, he closed out the victory to set up a Sunday final against Norwegian 23rd seed Casper Ruud.

"A tough challenge, to be honest. During the night, usually I never struggle to sleep. This night was not easy," Sinner said.

"When you're in the third set, nearly done, but you still have to show up again ... It's basically a new start of a match. There are nerves again, but I'm very happy how I handled the situation."

The win extended Sinner's extraordinary Masters-level winning streak to 33 successive matches, a record run that has already yielded titles in Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid. The one Masters trophy that has eluded him remains Rome, where he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final. By reaching Sunday's showpiece, Sinner also became the first Italian to contest back-to-back Rome finals since the legendary Nicola Pietrangeli did so 68 years ago.

He carries a perfect 4-0 record into the final against Ruud, having never even dropped a set against the Norwegian, including a quarter-final victory in Rome last year. Despite that dominance, Sinner is wary of underestimating his opponent.

"I think he's playing much, much better tennis right now, it's going to be very tough," Sinner added.

"I'm just happy to stand again here in the final - special tournament for me, special tournament for Italians ... If it goes well, I'm very happy. If not, the final of a Masters is an amazing result."

SportsLigue