Italian Open 2023: Daniil Medvedev finally wins first clay title, beats Holger Rune in final

The 27-year-old came out and put on a consistent, clean-hitting performance after the final's start was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes due to rain.

Daniil Medvedev in a file photo. (Image Credits: twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | May 22, 2023 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Daniil Medvedev defeated 20-year-old Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 on Sunday at the Italian Open to win his first clay-court trophy and sixth ATP Masters 1000 title. The 27-year-old came out and put on a consistent, clean-hitting performance after the final’s start was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes due to rain. On the red clay in Rome, he sat deep behind the baseline and took pressure, and twice in the second set against the seventh seed Rune, who was attempting to win his second Masters 1000 championship, he rallied from a break down.

Prior to this season, Medvedev had not won a game in his previous three trips to Rome. However, he also defeated 2022 semifinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and 2017 champion Alexander Zverev in the Italian capital, where he played some of his best clay-court tennis.

“I always want to believe in myself and I always want to win the biggest tournaments in the world,” said Medvedev, who dropped just one set en route to the title. “But at the same time, I didn’t think I could win a Masters 1000 on clay in my career because usually I hated it, I hated playing on it. I didn’t feel good on it and nothing was working.”

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“Before this tournament already in Madrid and Monte-Carlo I wasn’t feeling too bad. I thought, ‘OK, let’s continue’. Then when I came here I felt so good in practice and I told my coach, ‘I don’t know what is happening but I am feeling amazing, so let’s see how it goes’. But then you have to play the toughest opponents in the world to try to make it. I am really happy I managed to do it and to prove to myself and everyone else that I am capable of doing it.”

This season, Medvedev has won a Tour-high five titles, including the trophy in Miami last month. After achieving his 39th victory of the year in one hour and 41 minutes, he is now up to No. 2 in the rankings. “It was a tough match,” Medvedev said. “I think we were both a bit nervous at the start and I think we were both missing our basics. We were missing some easy shots, so I am happy I managed to step it up at the end of the first set. But then at the start of the second set he stepped it up straight away and I was like ‘OK, this is the moment I have to start playing better and go to his level’. Then it was a top match from this stage.”





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