Last week’s Madrid Mutua Open Andrey Rublev rallied from one set down to beat Marcos Giron 5-7 6-4 7-5 after a hard-fought match under the floodlights of the Foro Italico reaching the third round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. 

Giron converted his second break point in the ninth game of the first set to take a 5-4 lead. Rublev saved three set points before breaking serve at deuce in the 10^th game to draw level to 5-5. Giron broke for the second time in the 11^th game and served out at 30 to win the first set 7-5. 

Rublev broke serve in the second game and held serve at 30 to open up a 3-0 lead at the start of the second set. Giron broke back in the ninth game for 4-5, as Rublev was serving for the set. Rublev broke for the second time in the 10^th game to win the second set 6-4. 

Giron rallied from a break down in the third set and broke for the second time in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead.  Rublev broke for the second time at love in the 10^th game to draw level to 5-5, when Rublev was serving for the match. Rublev broke serve on his third match point in the 12^th game to seal the third set 7-5. 

Rublev will face Alexandre Muller, who Arthur Fils 7-5 6-3. 

“I was super angry with myself that I left a lot of emotions out today, and was thinking that: ‘It’s over and I deserve to lose’. I was thinking it was over and I thinking again I had a lot of chances, and I could not make it because of my emotions. Somehow, I was able to start the game really well when my opponent served for the match and little by little I was able to recover, so I was able to recover”, said Rublev. 

Stefanos Tstitsipas also came back from one set down to beat Jan Lennard Struff 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-4. 

Struff earned an early break after a 5-minute first game in the opening set. Tsitsipas smashed his racket against an advertsment board. Tsitsipas broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4 forcing the first set to the tie-break. Struff earned three mini-breaks to race out to a 5-1 lead. Tsitsipas pulled one of three breaks back for 1-5. Struff earned a fourth mini-break to seal the tie-break 7-1. 

Tsitsipas broke serve in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. Struff broke straight back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Tsitsipas broke again in the fifth game and held serve at love to take a 4-2 lead. Struff saved three break points in the seventh game for 3-4. Tsitsipas served out the second set at 15.

Tsitsipas took an early break in the first game of the third set, but Struff pulled it back in the second game in a hard-fought battle. Struff saved four break points in the third game to hold serve after five deuces. Tsitsipas broke serve in the fifth game at 30 to take a 3-2 lead. Struff earned three break points, but Tsitsipas held serve for 4-2. The Greek player served out the win on his first match point. 

Tsitsipas set up a match against Cameron Norrie, who beat Jaume Munar 6-3 1-6 6-3. 

Last year’s Rome Masters 1000 finalist Holger Rune beat Luca Nardi 6-4 6-4 after 1 hour and 42 minutes in the final match of the day. Rune saved all break points he faced during the match. 

Rune converted his third break point in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. He served out the first set with a hold at love in the 10^thgame. 

Rune saved six break points in the fourth game to hold serve at deuce before breaking serve at 15 to take a 3-2 lead. Rune held on his next service games and served out on his second match point in the 10^th game. Rune will take Sebastian Baez in the next round. The Dane leads 2-1 in his previous head-to-match against his Argentine opponent. At last year’s indoor hard court tournament in Basel Rune beat Baez 7-6 (7-2) 6-1. 

Danil Medvedev started his title defence at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome with a 7-5 6-4 win over Jack Draper after 1 hour and 47 minutes. Medvedev earned his 100^th win at Masters 1000 level. 

Medvedev earned his first break in the third game of the first set to take a 2-1 lead. Draper broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. Medvedev broke for the seventh time to take a 4-3 lead. Draper broke back in the 10^th game to draw level to 5-5, when Medvedev was serving for the set. Medvedev broke for the third time in the 11^th game. The Russian player closed out the first set 7-5 in his service game after saving a break point in the 12^th game. 

Medvedev dropped just two points on his first serve and broke twice in the third and fifth games to race out to a 5-1 lead. Draper pulled one of the two breaks back, when Medvedev was serving for the match at 5-2, but he closed out on his first match point. 

“It was not easy. I feel like the conditions are completely different from last year and also from Monte-Carlo and Madrid. It’s really slow and heavy, so I feel like honestly it’s tough to make a winner and that’s what I saw in all the other matches. You need to work the opponent left-right-left-right and you get tired and your opponent gets tired. I knew that before the match so I am happy that I managed to stronger”, said Medvedev. 

Medvedev won his first title on clay in Rome last year and is aiming to defend a title for the first time in his career. The six-time Masters 1000 champion set up a third round match against Hamad Medjedovic, who beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. 

Alex De Minaur beat Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3 6-2 to improve his win-loss record to 24-9 this season. De Minaur will take on last week’s Madrid Mutua Open Felix Auger Aliassime or Botic Van de Zandschulp. De Minaur broke serve in the first game to open up a 2-0 lead. Carballes Baena broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. De Minaur won the final three games with two breaks of serve to close out the first set 6-3. 

Nicolas Jarry beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-2 7-6 (8-6). Arnaldi saved a break point in the first game. Jarry broke serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead after a double fault from Arnaldi. Jarry earned a double break in the fifth game and held serve at love to race out to a 5-1 lead. The Chilean player served out the first set 6-2 after rallying from 30-40 down. Arnaldi saved three break points in the first game of the second set. Both players went on serve until the eighth game. When Arnaldi earned a break point. The Italian player broke serve, as Jarru hit his volley into the net. Jarry broke straight back in the ninth game and held serve at deuce after saving three set points in the 10^th game. Arnaldi went up a 6-2 in the tie-break, but Jarry saved four set points to draw level to 6-6. Jarry won the tie-break 8-6 on his first match point. 

Jarry set up a third round match against Stefano Napolitano, who came back from one set down to beat Shang Juncheng 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-0. Tommy Paul beat Aslan Karatsev 6-4 6-2 to set up a third round match against Dominik Koepfer, who beat Frances Tiafoe 6-4 6-2.

Hubert Hurkacz beat 10-time champion Rafael Nadal 6-1 6-3 in their first head-to-head match to reach the third round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Hurkacz saved all seven break points he faced in the match. 

Hurkacz brought Nadal’s career at the Rome Masters 1000 to a close. 

Hurkacz saved five break points in a marathon first game of the opening set. Nadal fended off two break points to hold serve in the second game. Hurkacz won five consecutive games from 1-1 with two breaks to seal the first set 6-1 in 49 minutes. 

Hurkacz did not drop a service game and broke Nadal in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. The Polish player sealed the second set with a double break on his first match point in the ninth game after 93 minutes. Hurkacz clinched his first win at the Foro Italico since 2020.

Hurkacz set up a third round match against Tomas Etcheverry, who beat Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-3 7-5. “I am definitely proud of myself. Playing against Rafa is something special. It’s just different, especially being on clay, the surface that he has just dominated over the past 20 years. No one will ever have a record on this surface. He is bigger than the sport at the end of the day. So many people follow him and he inspired so many guys, so I am just really happy to have that experience today”, said Hurkacz.