Rome - 15/05

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Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000 and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.

Today is Friday 15 May, in Rome it's 08:30 and it's 16 degrees. Ok, let's get started.

On the menu today

• 🇮🇹 Sinner downs Rublev and becomes the first to 32 consecutive wins at Masters 1000 level
• 🇷🇺 Medvedev comes back to beat Landaluce in three sets and returns to a Rome semifinal three years later
• 🇺🇸 Gauff beats Cirstea in two sets and returns to the Foro final for the second year in a row
• 🇮🇹 Sinner-Medvedev, ATP semifinal on Centrale in the evening
• 🇳🇴 Ruud-Darderi opens the Centrale program in the early afternoon

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇮🇹 Sinner Rewrites The Masters 1000 Record

Jannik Sinner beat Andrey Rublev 6-2 6-4 on Centrale, reaching 32 consecutive wins at Masters 1000 level and surpassing the streak of 31 that had belonged to Novak Djokovic since 2011. It's one of those numbers that, even when you see them written down, don't really seem to describe what is happening: Sinner hasn't lost a match in this tournament category since last year, and in Rome he is moving forward with the same measured clarity that allowed him to build the streak. More than yesterday's performance, tidy and free of lapses, what is striking is the regularity with which these results keep coming, in a calendar that continues to be one of the busiest ever. Tonight, in the semifinal, he'll face Medvedev: their recent head-to-head tells a very clear story, but clay remains a surface that has already given Medvedev a few evenings different from what was expected.

🇷🇺 Medvedev Comes Back On Landaluce At The Fourth Match Point

Daniil Medvedev beat Martin Landaluce 1-6 6-4 7-5 in two hours and twenty-two minutes, reaching a Rome semifinal for the first time since his 2023 title. The Russian was down a break in the decider, found a return-of-serve backhand winner that flipped the momentum of the set, and then needed four match points before closing on the fourth chance. For the Spaniard, twenty years old and second Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the season after Miami, it's a loss that leaves more than just regret: he had built the decisive break and managed the rhythm of the rallies for a long stretch, and in these situations the line between a definitive confirmation and a missed opportunity is measured in just a few points. Medvedev, on the other hand, can read his match as a small sign of return: the serve he held in the key moments, and the feeling of being back in a competitive zone that had drifted away in recent months.

🇺🇸 Gauff Back In The Rome Final

Coco Gauff beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-3, reaching her second consecutive final at the Internazionali and going to 4-0 in her personal head-to-head against the Romanian. Cirstea had reached this stage as an outsider, eliminating players the stats didn't have her favored against, and it was logical to expect that at some point someone would raise the bar above what she could shift in two weeks. Gauff did it with tennis far less spectacular than the score might suggest: she kept depth, served at high percentages in the hot moments, and let her opponent be the one who had to come up with the solution match after match. Her opponent in the final will be Swiatek or Svitolina, from a semifinal that ran late last night: in both cases, it will be an opponent against whom Gauff already has a clear picture of what works and what doesn't.

WHAT'S ON TODAY:

• 🇳🇴 Ruud vs 🇮🇹 Darderi - ATP semifinal on Centrale, not before 15:30. It's the first tour-level meeting between the two, and it comes on the back of opposite paths: Ruud brings the solidity of someone who in Rome has always known how to hold his ground, Darderi that sequence of wins built past midnight that have already made his week a small story of its own. The crowd will play its part, but the real testing ground will be how much Darderi can carry onto court after the marathon against Jodar.
• 🇮🇹 Sinner vs 🇷🇺 Medvedev - ATP semifinal on Centrale, not before 19:00. The recent head-to-head tells a clear-cut asymmetry, but it's precisely in evening sessions in Rome that Medvedev has already shown some deviations from his averages. For Sinner this is his 33rd consecutive chance at Masters 1000 level, and an important test ahead of a possible final.
• 🇵🇱 Swiatek or 🇺🇦 Svitolina vs 🇺🇸 Gauff - WTA final scheduled for tomorrow, but the morning will confirm the opponent's name: yesterday's semifinal, pushed back by the men's program, ran into the night.

To dig deeper

• Jannik Sinner overtakes Novak Djokovic with record-breaking 32nd straight Masters 1000 win
• Daniil Medvedev converts 4th MP to deny Martin Landaluce, sets Jannik Sinner SF in Rome
• For the second year in a row, Gauff marches into the Rome final
• Italian Open 2026: Jannik Sinner wins record 32nd consecutive ATP Masters 1000 match
• Gauff ends Cirstea's dream and repeats final in Rome
• This is the schedule for the semifinals of the ATP Rome 2026

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast