Rome - 05/12

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Today is Tuesday, May 12, in Rome it's 08:30 and there are 17 degrees. Ok, let's go.

Today at breakfast

• 🇮🇹 Sinner crushes Popyrin 6-2 6-0, derby with Pellegrino in the round of 16
• 🇮🇹 Pellegrino, from qualifying to the round of 16: Tiafoe beaten on the BNP Paribas Arena
• 🇷🇺 Medvedev rallies from a set down against Llamas Ruiz
• 🇺🇸 Gauff saves a match point and edges past Jovic in three, into the WTA quarters
• 🇮🇹 Musetti-Ruud opens Centrale at 11:00, Darderi-Zverev in the afternoon
• 🇮🇹 Sinner-Pellegrino on Centrale not before 15:00

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇮🇹 Sinner Dismantles Popyrin In An Hour

Jannik Sinner beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2 6-0 in just over an hour on Centrale, closing out the third round with the feeling of still having a wide margin over the rest of the draw. His twenty-fifth consecutive win, since losing to Mensik in Doha in February, came against an opponent who late at night during the weekend had bent Mensik over three sets, and this helps explain why Popyrin walked on court already carrying some fatigue. More than the score, what stands out is the quality of the baseline return game, which took away from Popyrin the only path that in Rome could have kept him in the match. The round of 16 brings the derby with Andrea Pellegrino, and for Sinner it will be an evening very different from the ones he has grown used to at the Foro.

🇮🇹 Pellegrino, The Week He Wasn't Expecting

Andrea Pellegrino beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 6-1 in an hour and fifty-seven minutes, reaching his first Masters 1000 round of 16 as a qualifier. The first set was decided in a tiebreak, and once he banked it the player from Puglia started swinging with a freedom Tiafoe could no longer contain. Stories like Pellegrino's, who at 29 plays a round of 16 against the world number one at his home tournament, usually get told only in hindsight; today he gets the advantage of living it as it happens. In the round of 16, against Sinner, the main question will be how much of that open-match feeling he can keep in his body, because technically the leap is enormous.

🇮🇹 Cobolli And Bellucci Stop In The Third Round

Flavio Cobolli lost 6-3 6-4 to Thiago Agustín Tirante in two sets closed out without any turning points in his favor, on a night when the Argentine looked more solid than his ranking suggested. Mattia Bellucci, on the BNP Paribas Arena, was handled 6-4 6-3 by Spanish lucky loser Martin Landaluce, who keeps confirming an attitude for these weeks already seen in Miami. For both Italians this stays a Rome above the initial expectations, and the feeling is that the loss has to be read inside a path that on clay is finally taking shape. Tirante will face Medvedev, Landaluce is into the round of 16.

🇷🇺 Medvedev Suffers, But Advances

Daniil Medvedev beat Pablo Llamas Ruiz 3-6 6-4 6-2 after going down a set and a break against the world number 139. The Russian, who had received a walkover from Machac in the second round, essentially opened his Rome in a match that for two sets had the look of an announced upset. The comeback began the moment Medvedev started lengthening the rallies on the backhand diagonal, forcing the Spaniard out of an area of the court he had been managing well until then. In the round of 16 he'll meet Tirante, and the feeling is that the guard has to stay high.

🇺🇸 Gauff Survives In Three Against Jovic

Coco Gauff came back to beat Iva Jovic 5-7 7-5 6-2 in a match lasting more than two and a half hours, saving herself from a first set in which her fellow American had played with unexpected cleanness. In the second, down 5-3 with Jovic serving for the match, Gauff fended off a match point before flipping the momentum and finding the key passage of the match. More than the technical quality, the difference was Gauff's ability to stay inside the match when by inertia she could have been elsewhere. In the quarters she'll face Mirra Andreeva, who yesterday dispatched Mertens 6-3 6-3.

🇵🇱 Świątek And Rybakina, Round Of 16 Without Effort

Iga Świątek beat Naomi Osaka 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour, while Elena Rybakina dismantled Karolina Plíšková 6-0 6-2. For the Polish player it's the second straight match closed out with this authority, after the 6-1 6-0 against Cocciaretto, and the feeling that in Rome she's finding a version close to her best seasons is becoming concrete. For Rybakina, who in the quarters will meet Svitolina (6-2 6-3 against Bartunkova), the signal is of a week in which the serve is working at the levels she had us used to.

WHAT HAPPENS TODAY:

• 🇮🇹 Musetti vs Ruud - Round of 16 on Centrale, opening at 11:00. A rematch of a contest that on clay has always given interesting indications, and Musetti arrives from a 7-6 6-4 over Cerundolo with the feeling of being able to raise the bar even higher.
• 🇮🇹 Darderi vs Zverev - BNP Paribas Arena, not before 14:00. For Darderi it's the match that closes a run of three wins in which the tennis has grown round after round; for Zverev it's the first real obstacle of his tournament.
• 🇮🇹 Sinner vs Pellegrino - Centrale, not before 15:00. The Italian derby nobody would have written at the start of the week: Pellegrino arrives from qualifying, Sinner from a win in his by-now-familiar Masters 1000 mode.
• 🇺🇸 Gauff vs Andreeva - WTA quarters on Centrale, not before 19:00. Andreeva is playing the best clay tennis of her young career, Gauff arrives from the comeback against Jovic looking for confirmations.
• 🇦🇷 Tirante vs Medvedev - Round of 16, Centrale in the evening. The player who eliminated Cobolli tries to keep the streak going against a Russian who in Rome is walking a tightrope.

Read more

• Sinner into the round of 16 at ATP Rome 2026: Popyrin beaten 6-2, 6-0. HIGHLIGHTS
• ATP Rome: Bellucci, against Landaluce there was nothing to do. The Spaniard goes to the round of 16
• Internazionali: Bellucci eliminated, Landaluce into the round of 16
• WTA Rome 2026: Gauff survives, Pegula-Swiatek and Rybakina-Svitolina take shape
• ATP and WTA Rome 2026, the schedule for Tuesday May 12: Sinner-Pellegrino, Musetti-Ruud and Darderi-Zverev
• LIVE Rome Open WTA Day Eight: Mirra Andreeva eases past Mertens into Quarter-Finals

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast