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Can anyone stop Novak Djokovic from successfully defending his Internazionali BNL d'Italia title?

Holger Rune will take his shot at defeating the top seed on Wednesday in Rome in one of two quarter-finals taking place at the Foro Italico. Casper Ruud meet Francisco Cerundolo in the day's other singles clash.

ATPTour.com previews the first two Rome quarter-finals.

[ATP APP]

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [7] Holger Rune (DEN)

Reigning champion Djokovic’s quest in Rome for a record-extending 39th ATP Masters 1000 title has been mostly smooth so far. However, he will face his toughest challenge yet when he plays Rune in the quarter-finals.

Stefanos Tsitsipas finished a long day at the Foro Italico at 1:43 a.m. Wednesday morning when he defeated home favourite Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

When play began Tuesday in Rome, three Italian singles players remained in the tournament. By the end of the day, all three were eliminated, with Tsitsipas dispatching two of them. The fifth seed completed a straight-sets victory against Lorenzo Sonego in the afternoon and then ousted 18th seed Musetti in a match that did not begin until nearly midnight.

“It was a very full day, I’ll tell you that. Spent the entire day at the courts. It had to be done, the rain got in the way, so I’m happy the day ends like this,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “I put a great effort out there today. Tonight actually, not today!

"It’s been wonderful, delightful in fact, to be playing this way and I need to catch some Zs now, get ready. I think tomorrow’s a day off, so [I have] got to recharge and focus on the next one.”

The 24-year-old beat the last Italian in the field, but Musetti put up a big fight. The straight-sets scoreline does not show how closely the clash was contested.

When Daniil Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev on Tuesday to advance to the quarter-finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, he also returned to the top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Medvedev (3,480 points) now leads Carlos Alcaraz (3,455 points) by 35 points and can stretch that lead further this week at the Foro Italico. The 27-year-old can reach as many as 4,300 points if he lifts the trophy in Rome.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 16 May)

It is possible for Medvedev to relinquish top spot before the tournament ends. Third-placed Novak Djokovic, who has 2,745 points, can max out at 3,565 points by claiming his seventh title at the Italian ATP Masters 1000 event. Alcaraz cannot improve because he lost in the third round.

Medvedev can guarantee he will leave Rome with a lead in the Live Race by reaching the semi-finals. He will play qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday for a place in the last four.

Have the match-winning floodgates opened for Daniil Medvedev in Rome?

After going 0-3 at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia prior to this year, the World No. 3 on Tuesday notched his third win of this year’s edition of the ATP Masters 1000 by defeating Alexander Zverev 6-2, 7-6(3).

The fourth-round clash was the 15th edition of one of the most intriguing ATP Head2Head clashes on Tour, and Medvedev made it nine wins to Zverev’s six in that matchup with a trademark display of relentless baseline retrieving to counter the big-serving challenge of the 2017 Rome champion.

“He started to play a little bit better for sure,” said Medvedev, when asked about the difficulties he faced in the second set. “We had some long games, and I should have played better on this game at 4-3… I should have done better from 40/0.

“I made a few easy errors, but that’s tennis and I knew that I had to continue. It was not an easy moment, [later I had a] set point to save. I’m happy with my level throughout the whole match, except this game and I’m really looking forward to the next match.”

You don’t have to look hard to find enticing early-round contests at this week’s ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Bordeaux, France.

Several Grand Slam champions are among the Bordeaux field, including Dominic Thiem, who rallied from a set down Tuesday to escape Benoit Paire at the BNP Paribas Primrose. Stan Wawrinka also earned a victory to set a blockbuster clash against Andy Murray.

The Austrian Thiem overcame early serve trouble to get past home favourite Paire 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the clay-court event. After winning just seven of 14 points off his first delivery in the opening set, Thiem dropped just six first-serve points the rest of the match.

The 2020 US Open champion, who was a semi-finalist at last week’s Challenger event on home soil in Mauthausen, will next face another Frenchman, eighth seed Corentin Moutet.

Paire also enjoyed a strong run at a Challenger event last week, reaching the final at the Francavilla al Mare Challenger.

“The main priority is to get into the main draw, to play with the big guys. That's the pressure.”

So says Yannick Hanfmann, who gave a stark reminder of the strength-in-depth of the ATP Tour on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where the World No. 101 upset sixth seed Andrey Rublev 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 to reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in Rome.

Hanfmann is accustomed to having to earn the right to take on Top 10 opponents like Rublev. The No. 101-ranked German has qualified for a Tour-leading six main draws in 2023, including at back-to-back Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome. His two-hour, 33-minute fourth-round win against the World No. 6, the biggest win of the 31-year-old’s career, was his sixth match in nine days at the Foro Italico.

“It can go two ways,” Hanfmann told ATPTour.com earlier this month when asked about competing as a qualifier in main draws. “It can be a little bit like [you are] wearing out, playing tough matches in qualifying, and then maybe it's a little bit of a negative.

“But [in Madrid, for example], I qualified [with] two fairly straightforward matches. So [I felt] good. I [knew] the conditions at an event where it's tough to play. So I think that's definitely to my advantage.”

In front of a full crowd on Pietrangeli, top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski survived a second-round test Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The Dutch-British duo ousted home favourites Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-6(5) to advance to the Rome quarter-finals. Despite serving for the match at 5-4, Koolhof and Skupski were pushed to a second-set tie-break before moving past last year’s semi-finalists.

Koolhof and Skupski, who collected seven team titles in 2022, are aiming for their first trophy this season. They reached the final in Indian Wells and in Barcelona, but fell in a Match Tie-break on both occasions. Koolhof and Skupski will look to reach their second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the season when they meet Australian duo Alex de Minaur and Jason Kubler.

In Tuesday’s quarter-final action, Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski defeated Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 7-6(2) after winning 38 of 43 first-serve points. Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp rallied to escape Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-6.

Holger Rune earned the biggest win of his career last year against Novak Djokovic in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters. It was the Danish star’s first ATP Masters 1000 title and his first victory over Djokovic.

That clash was on an indoor hard court and now they will meet on an outdoor clay court in the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. But Rune does not feel the change in conditions will change much.

“To be honest, I don't think it's going to be so different. Novak is an all-court player. I think he's tough no matter where you play him. He's shown that. He's won Rome six times,” Rune said. “[That] says itself that it's going to be tough.

“I have to be at my best. Now [I need to] recover physically, try to be as ready as I can for tomorrow [and] try to play my best tennis because I will need that for tomorrow, for sure.”

The respect is mutual. After Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie on Tuesday, the Serbian shared high praise for Rune.

Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) has engaged Champion Data to develop the Tennis Sport Data Platform (TSDP), a critical piece of its technology framework set to transform the way tennis data is collected, analysed and consumed.

Champion Data is a company with more than 20 years’ experience delivering sports data and related services to broadcasters, sports organisations and betting providers across multiple sports including football, golf horse racing, AFL and lacrosse. The collaboration marks the latest step in TDI’s growth plans, which include delivering significant enhancements to tennis data capabilities alongside major growth in the value of its rights deals.

The TSDP will enable TDI to ingest, merge and distribute multiple live data sources from professional tennis, including umpire scoring and player & ball tracking data, at ultra-low latency. This puts TDI in position to directly serve the needs of its customers, including media, betting partners, players and fans as well as the capability to service other tennis bodies in future. Players and fans alike will benefit from the rich stream of content generated by the platform, as the stories behind pivotal moments in tennis are told through data.

The TSDP will also serve as a rich and accessible archive of historical data sets, in addition to providing an open ‘sandbox’ environment to enable third parties to innovate with tennis data.

David Lampitt, CEO of TDI, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Champion Data to create a game-changing platform for tennis data. Our goal is not only to deliver the most accurate and reliable tennis data but also transform the way in which these assets can be managed, enabling new narratives and storytelling possibilities for the tennis industry. Champion Data are specialists in the field, bringing together their extensive experience in data and analytics with our vision for the future of tennis."

Is this the week Casper Ruud captures his first ATP Masters 1000 crown?

The Norwegian produced a dominant performance on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where he cruised past Serbian Laslo Djere 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

The 24-year-old arrived in Rome having enjoyed a modest season by his standards, falling in the third round and second round in Monte-Carlo and Madrid, respectively. Ruud has looked close to his best so far in the Italian capital, though, dropping just one set to advance to his second tour-level quarter-final of the season.

[ATP APP]

Ruud dictated against Djere throughout their 70-minute clash, striking his heavy topspin with depth and accuracy to keep the Serbian pinned deep. Ruud committed nine unforced errors and broke Djere five times to improve to 1-2 in their ATP Head2Head series.

Despite an overnight break in play, Alexander Zverev expertly retained his focus to complete a third-round victory against J.J. Wolf on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

With his 6-4, 7-5 victory, the 19th-seeded German set a blockbuster fourth-round clash against Daniil Medvedev. The pair’s 15th tour-level meeting will take place later on Tuesday at Rome's Foro Italico.

We will be there no matter what. ?@AlexZverev ⚔️ @DaniilMedwed@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/BJFAJj3WUz

Zverev had led Wolf 6-4, 3-3 when rain interrupted their maiden tour-level meeting on Monday evening. Upon resumption, neither player forged any break point opportunities until Zverev broke the American to love in the 11th game, and the 26-year-old held firm behind serve to wrap a one-hour, 49-minute triumph.

Zverev offered only one break point in the match against the World No. 54 Wolf, and the 2017 Rome champion will hope for a repeat serving performance as he bids for his first tour-level victory against Medvedev since 2021. The third seed leads Zverev 8-6 in their ATP Head2Head rivalry, including fourth-round ATP Masters 1000 victories in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo already this year.

Novak Djokovic continued the quest for his record-extending 39th ATP Masters 1000 crown on Tuesday when he moved past Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

The Serbian suffocated Norrie with his deep aggressive hitting on the Italian clay. He also moved well, sliding freely into shots to pull the Briton around and reach the quarter-finals in Rome for the 17th consecutive year.

"So far so good," Djokovic said when asked about his tournament so far. "It was an early start today. Strange conditions and we warmed up for just 20 minutes. I was rushing a little bit and we couldn't play before because of the rain, so I am glad to overcome the challenge in straight sets and move on."

Djokovic is chasing his seventh title in Rome, having triumphed at the event in 2008, 2011, 2014-15, 2020 and 2022. The 35-year-old will next meet Dane Holger Rune or Australian Alexei Popyrin following his 89-minute win.

The top seed is looking to find his best level on clay this fortnight at the Foro Italico, having arrived in Rome off the back of early defeats on the surface in Monte-Carlo and Banja Luka. Djokovic is currently third in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and could rise to first if he wins the title following Carlos Alcaraz’s third-round exit.

Carlos Alcaraz’s early exit from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia has repercussions beyond the Rome ATP Masters 1000 event. It also could have a big effect on the battle for No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The Spaniard will return to World No. 1 next Monday, but instead of departing the Foro Italico with a sizable advantage, Alcaraz may be left with only a narrow lead if Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev push on to have deep runs in the Italian capital.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings

If Djokovic and Medvedev both lose in the fourth round on Tuesday, Alcaraz will lead Djokovic by 950 points and Medvedev by 1,395 points.

But both stars can claim plenty of points on the Italian clay. Djokovic, a six-time Rome champion, can reach 6,775 points by the end of the tournament, which would bring him within 40 of Alcaraz’s 6,815.

Hungarian Fabian Marozsan’s win against Carlos Alcaraz on Monday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia stunned the tennis world. One of the best Hungarian players in history, Balazs Taroczy, was thrilled with the result.

“It's an incredible win and it's an incredible tournament for Fabian,” Taroczy told ATPTour.com. “He had some tough matches and since that he's winning match after match. Very tough matches. I saw the one against [Jiri] Lehecka. He was down 4/2 in the third-set tie-break and it was 7/4 and I heard that he did the same thing today in the second set.

“It's an amazing achievement and I think very, very [big] of course to beat Alcaraz when everybody's just talking that nobody can win sets anymore against him. And suddenly there is an unknown kid from Hungary killing him. That's fantastic.”

Taroczy understands what it takes to succeed on the world’s biggest stages. He climbed to No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, both in the 1980s. The Hungarian partnered Heinz Gunthardt to the 1985 Wimbledon men’s doubles title.

Marozsan is competing in an ATP Tour main draw for the first time.

The quarter-final places are up for grabs on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where a bumper schedule includes all eight fourth-round matches at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 and some rain-delayed third-round battles held over from Monday.

Ahead in their postponed matches, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 2017 champion Alexander Zverev and home favourite Lorenzo Musetti will all need to pull double duty to advance to the quarter-finals.

The fourth-round clashes that are already set are headlined by reigning champion Novak Djokovic’s meeting with Briton Cameron Norrie, while Casper Ruud meets Laslo Djere. Italian Jannik Sinner will lead home hopes against Francisco Cerundolo.

ATPTour.com looks at some of the key matchups on Day 7 across the men’s singles draw.

[ATP APP]

Three matches in progress Monday evening at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia will be completed on Tuesday due to rain.

The clashes on court were between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Sonego, Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti, and Alexander Zverev and J.J. Wolf.

?? Today's remaining matches won't resume due to inclement weather.

We'll get you updated on tomorrow's order of play in the next few hours.#IBI23 | @atptour | @WTA pic.twitter.com/GyfxWERbEP

Tsitsipas led Sonego 6-3 on centre court in their third ATP Head2Head meeting. The Greek, who reached the final last year in Rome, won their first two battles.

Musetti thrilled his home crowd on Grand Stand Arena, where he took a 5-7, 6-4, 2-1 lead. The Italian leads by a break in the deciding set.

Are you excited for the next batch of Break Point Season 1 episodes? The next five installments of Netflix’s hit tennis series will be released in June, but some of the show’s stars reunited to recap what is out there so far.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Paula Badosa, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud and Maria Sakkari gathered to discuss some of the most memorable moments from the first five episodes.

“Walking here before we even got here I said, ‘This is what we’re going to be talking about,’” Fritz said.

What was he referring to? Matteo Berrettini’s messy hotel room!

“It was actually better. It could have been worse,” Berrettini said. “There were like, ‘No we love this.’ I was like, ‘Okay if you love it, I love it.’”

Andy Murray is celebrating his 36th birthday Monday in Bordeaux, France, where the Scot is gearing up for this week’s star-studded ATP Challenger Tour 175 event.

Despite being the third-oldest player in the Top 50, Murray can still take down the best players in the world. The three-time major champion proved so by rolling back the years at this month’s Aix-en-Provence Challenger, where he defeated World No. 17 Tommy Paul in the final, capturing his first title at any level since 2019.

Can Murray produce another strong week en route to a Challenger 175 crown at the BNP Paribas Primrose? The path won’t be easy. The former World No. 1 could clash against three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka in the second round, should the Swiss defeat qualifier Ugo Blanchet in his opener.

An encounter between Murray and Wawrinka would be must-watch TV for the tennis world. The pair has met on the biggest stages of the sport, including in two tour-level finals (2008 Doha, 2019 Antwerp) and two Grand Slam semi-finals (Roland Garros 2016, 2017). They’ve also met at the Nitto ATP Finals, in Davis Cup, and at the Olympics. Across 22 tour-level meetings, Murray leads Wawrinka 13-9. If Murray were to meet the 24-year-old Blanchet, it would be their first meeting.

The second seed Murray is in the bottom half of the draw alongside Richard Gasquet, Ugo Humbert, Mikael Ymer, and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche are among the #NextGenATP Frenchmen aiming for a run on home soil.

Chasing form, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury reached the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time this season on Monday. The second seeds clawed past Italians Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(1), 6-7(1), 10-7 at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

Ram and Salisbury, who reached the final in Rome in 2021, saved one set point in the first set and then held their nerve in the Match Tie-break to advance after one hour and 59 minutes.

Ram and Salisbury have won three ATP Masters 1000 titles as a team and will continue their quest for a fourth against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. The Spanish-Argentine team defeated Daniel Evans and Ben Shelton 6-1, 7-6(1).

[ATP APP]

Jason Kubler and Alex de Minaur won a thriller against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden. The Australians saved two match points to triumph 2-6, 7-6(8), 12-10.