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Facing a tough opponent in tricky conditions, Andrey Rublev got the job done on Saturday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

The World No. 6 prevailed 6-3, 6-4 against Alex Molcan in a second-round match featuring two rain interruptions at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Using his heavy groundstrokes to good effect on the damp clay, Rublev clinched a break of his opponent’s serve in each set to seal an 80-minute win on Court Pietrangeli.

“I’m happy that I was able to finish just before the rain,” said Rublev, speaking as the bad weather returned soon after match point. “I can rest now, and I can rest tomorrow, and I don’t need to stress waiting until the afternoon, so it’s very lucky when you are able to finish before the rain and you know that most of the players still didn’t play.”

Rublev also defeated Molcan in straight sets in the Banja Luka semi-finals three weeks ago, and the 25-year-old delivered a commanding display to secure a repeat result in the Italian capital. The only real nervous moments for Rublev came on his serve at 0-1, 15/40 in the second set, but he found a series of big deliveries to save both break points and hold.

“It was tough conditions, but I think I played well,” said Rublev, who struck 17 winners and made just three unforced errors in the match. “I really like slower courts, especially when it’s weather like this, cold and rainy. I like it even more because I have more time.”

Rain in Rome has delayed Saturday’s play at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where matches have been postponed until at least 11:30 am local time (CEST).

A host of big names are scheduled to start their campaign at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000, including second seed Carlos Alcaraz. By simply taking the court and making his Rome debut on Saturday against Albert Ramo-Vinolas, the 20-year-old will guarantee himself a return to No. 1 in the next edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Start of matches postponed to 11:30am

Check our social media accounts and official website to stay updated on today's schedule #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/RMfgNV2tz1

Monte-Carlo champion Andrey Rublev faces Alex Molcan in the opening match of the day on Court Pietrangeli, where third seed Daniil Medvedev later meets Emil Ruusuvuori and 2017 champion Alexander Zverev clashes with David Goffin.

On Grand Stand Arena, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will also be in second-round action. The Greek meets Rome debutant Nuno Borges.

Former Australian doubles legend Owen Davidson - who in 1967 completed the mixed doubles Grand Slam - has passed away, aged 79.

Below is a summary of his career courtesy of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2010. At full tribute will follow later this weekend.

When Owen Davidson stepped onto a doubles court, particularly with Billie Jean King in mixed, the message was abundantly clear: You’ll have to play your best game – and then some – to come away victorious.

A champion of 11 major mixed doubles titles, eight with King, Davidson was only the third player in history to win a calendar year Grand Slam in mixed doubles. Overall, Davidson won four mixed doubles majors at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships. His four Wimbledon triumphs are the most mixed doubles crowns at the All England Club for a male player.

After all the basketball, it was so great to visit with one of our dearest friends and my mixed doubles partner, Owen Davidson.

Owen Davidson and I won 8 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles, 4 of them at #Wimbledon (1967, 1971, 1973, 1974). pic.twitter.com/eGOYROxYBf

Top 5 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas headline the Saturday action at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, with all three set to begin their campaigns at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Second-round singles play will be complete by the end of Day 4 in the Rome main draw, with the field to be narrowed to 32.

Medvedev will be in action on Court Pietrangeli, where Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev will also compete. Three Italians join Alcaraz on the centre court slate, with Lorenzo Sonego meeting 25th seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the afternoon before countrymen Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Arnaldi square off to cap the evening session.

ATPTour.com looks ahead to some of the biggest matches across the men's singles draw and men's doubles draw on the Saturday schedule.

[ATP APP]

[2] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)

By simply taking the court and making his Rome debut, Carlos Alcaraz will guarantee himself a return to No. 1 in the next edition Peppersone ATP Rankings. But the Spaniard no doubt has his sights set on a third straight ATP Tour title after completing a second consecutive Spanish double across Barcelona and Madrid.

Third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek had to rally from a set down Friday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia to keep their hopes alive for a second ATP Masters 1000 title.

The Croatian-American duo, who won this year's Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, downed Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin 5-7, 6-2, 10-6 after winning 31 of 38 first-serve points during the opening-round encounter. Dodig and Krajicek will next face Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski, whom they beat in the Monte-Carlo first round.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz also needed a Match Tie-break to survive their Rome opener. The German pair ousted Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 in one hour, 22 minutes.

Krawietz and Puetz, who were finalists at last month's ATP 250 event in Munich, await the winner of Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp and eighth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

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Great players find a way to win, even on days when they aren’t playing their best.

Such was the case for top seed Novak Djokovic in Friday’s second-round clash against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The Serbian overcame a rough first set - in which he committed 21 unforced errors and appeared physically unwell - to advance 7-6(5), 6-2 at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

"Still not the desired level, still finding the shots and finding that groove on the court," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "It's always a little bit tricky playing someone for the first time. He's a clay-court specialist. He started better than I did, I started pretty slow, but I found my groove towards the end of the first. The second set was good, especially the last three or four games. I'm happy with the way I closed out the match."

The 35-year-old played with more margin and forced extended rallies in key moments of the match to move past the 6’5” Argentine. Despite having two set points at 4-5 in the first set, Djokovic was forced to a tie-break, where he won four consecutive points from 3/5 to seal an entertaining 75-minute set.

After reaching his first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 final last month in Monte-Carlo and suffering an early exit in Madrid, Holger Rune made a fast start in his debut at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Arthur Fils.

In a battle of #NextGenATP stars, the 20-year-old Rune dominated on return, converting on four of 12 break points in the victory.

"He made it tough. He's young, younger than me. It feels kind of crazy because I think this is the second time in my life I'm playing someone that's younger," said Rune, who improved to 2-1 against younger opponents on the ATP Tour, having split two previous matches against Carlos Alcaraz. "For sure he's in the right direction and I wish him all the best. He's a nice guy."

Rune reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of World No. 7 after reaching the Monte-Carlo final and has maintained his position since then, aided by a successful title defence in Munich. With no points to defend in Rome, he could rise as high as No. 4 by winning his second Masters 1000 title after his 2022 Rolex Paris Masters triumph.

Fils, 18, was the youngest player in the Rome draw. After reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final in Montpellier in February and earning his first ATP Masters 1000 win on Wednesday against fellow qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the Frenchman was denied his first Top 10 win with defeat to Rune. The Dane's victory extended his winning streak against French opponents to 13 matches, dating back to 2022.

The rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic has played out at the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this season, with the pair jockeying for World No. 1 throughout 2023. The 20-year-old Alcaraz began the year at the pinnacle of the men's game and has since traded the top spot with Djokovic, with each man enjoying two separate stints as No. 1. 

Alcaraz will reclaim the honour from the Serbian in the next edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by simply taking the court on Saturday for his Internazionali BNL d'Italia debut against fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. But after months of back-and-forth drama, Alcaraz and Djokovic could meet on the court for the first time this year during the Rome ATP Masters 1000.

"Being in the same tournament with Novak is great, having him here and learning from him," Alcaraz said, after injuries for both men prevented them from being in the same draw previously this season. "It's always good having the best tennis players in the world in the tournament. It's great. I hope to meet him in the final.

"I always say that as a tennis fan, I always want to see the best players in the world, to watch them, learn from them, because you have to learn from everyone. It's great to share the tournament [with him]."

If the top two seeds meet in the Rome final, it would be their second ATP Head2Head meeting. Alcaraz won a thrilling 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) semi-final last year in Madrid on the way to completing a Spanish trophy double across Barcelona and the nation's capital — a feat he repeated this season.

While the tennis world is eager to see the pair develop a rivalry on the court, Alcaraz said his biggest rival is himself.

When Carlos Alcaraz plays the first point of his match on Saturday against Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the 20-year-old Spaniard will clinch his return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Novak Djokovic arrived in Rome with a five-point lead over Alcaraz. However, Djokovic is the defending champion and will drop 1,000 points on 22 May. Alcaraz is not defending any points, and he will earn 10 by beginning his opening match in the Italian capital. That has already put him atop the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Alcaraz will therefore begin his 23rd week at World No. 1 on 22 May. The Spaniard has a big opportunity to leave Rome with a sizable lead. If the 20-year-old wins the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, he will depart Italy with at least a 1,395-point advantage over Djokovic.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings (entering Rome)

Djokovic can keep the battle close if he wins his seventh Rome title. The Serbian can finish the tournament with 6,775 points, which would keep him within 595 points of Alcaraz if the Spaniard reaches the final.

Cameron Norrie wasted little time kick-starting his Internazionali BNL d'Italia campaign on Friday morning in Rome.

The World No. 13 required just 74 minutes to down Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-3 for a confidence-boosting second-round win at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Norrie entered the match with a modest 2-3 record on the European clay so far this year but the Briton fired 20 winners and converted three of his seven break points to overcome the No. 100-ranked Muller.

The 27-year-old Norrie, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz to lift his fifth ATP tour title in Rio de Janeiro in February, now takes on Marton Fucsovics as he bids for back-to-back main-draw victories in the Italian capital for the first time in four attempts.

Fucsovics will be looking to upset a seeded opponent for the second straight match after he took out 17th seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4. Norrie leads the Hungarian 4-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series, including two wins on clay.

[ATP APP]

Portugal’s Nuno Borges has enjoyed some rise in recent years. After clinching his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in 2021, the 26-year-old cracked the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in 2022.

On Thursday, the 26-year-old broke new ground again when he overcame Dusan Lajovic to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 match win at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

“I never imagined that I would be playing at tournaments like these even a few years ago. I am living the dream as a player,” Borges told ATPTour.com. “Rome is one of those tournaments you go and watch on TV, so to be here playing it's really special. I have only started playing these big tournaments recently, so every match is like a final. Playing here on the big stage is incredible, I am just taking it all in.”

[ATP APP]

Borges took his first steps into tennis aged six at his local club in Maia. While he had a number of different coaches, the World No. 88’s father, Paolo, was a constant pillar of support.

Jannik Sinner gave a lesson in handling home pressure on Friday in Rome, where the highest-ranked Italian in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings made a lightning-fast start to his 2023 Internazionali BNL d'Italia campaign.

Sinner breezed past the dangerous Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event. A near-complete performance from the World No. 8 featured precise serving, fierce baseline hitting and high-class net play, and he wrapped victory in 79-minutes at the Foro Italico to improve to 13-3 at Masters 1000 level for the year.

“I’m happy about my level today,” said Sinner, who did not face a break point and converted three of five of his own against Kokkinakis. “It was not easy. It was a little bit breezy, a little bit windy and I think he especially in the second set served a little bit better. I also had a couple of chances then which I didn’t use, but I’m very happy about my serve, I felt the ball very well.”

[ATP APP]

Sinner arrived in Rome having reached the championship match in Miami either side of semi-final runs in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo, a sequence of Masters 1000 performances that have lifted the 21-year-old to fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. The Italian feels ready to impress at home as he seeks another deep run to boost his early Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.

Playing his first match as a Top 100 player, Italy's Matteo Arnaldi made the most of the occasion with a victory against Diego Schwartzman on Thursday night at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Playing in front of his home fans in Rome, the 22-year-old wild card scored a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory to close the day's play on centre court.

Arnaldi rose to No. 99 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings behind his third-round run in Madrid, where he upset World No. 4 Casper Ruud. After beating 2020 Rome finalist Schwartzman, he will bid for his second Top 20 win against 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the second round at the ATP Masters 1000.

[ATP APP]

After a dominant opening set, Arnaldi miseed two chances for an early break in the second as Schwartzman found his footing on the Italian clay. The Argentine secured the first break of set two to force a decider, but the flash point of the middle set came in a thrilling cat-and-mouse point that included a well-placed tweener from Arnaldi. The wild card had a chance to cap off the all-action point with a bunted passing shot, but he pushed it just long, still drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.

Even Schwartzman seemed mildly disappointed the show-stopping point did not end with a winner, with the Argentine grimacing as he confirmed to his opponent that the ball was out before flashing a smile and joining in on the applause.

The seeded players spring into action on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where defending champion Novak Djokovic and home favourite Jannik Sinner are among those seeking a fast start in Rome.

Djokovic begins his bid for a seventh title at the Foro Italico against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while the eighth-seeded Sinner faces the big-hitting Thanasi Kokkinakis. A #NextGenATP clash between Holger Rune and Arthur Fils is another standout second-round clash in the top half of the draw at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000.

ATPTour.com looks ahead to some of the intriguing matchups on the Friday schedule in Rome.

[ATP APP]

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG)

Taking down Djokovic in the early rounds in Rome is a task that no one has yet managed. The World No. 1 may have suffered early losses in both clay-court events he has played this year (he went 2-2 across Monte-Carlo and Banja Luka), but the Serbian has never failed to reach the quarter-finals in 16 appearances in the Italian capital.

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Novak Djokovic on Thursday quelled any concerns about his physical status leading into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The Serbian star missed the Mutua Madrid Open and lost early at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Srpska Open, but is excited to start his tournament in Rome, where he has won the title six times.

“It’s all good. It's all good. I mean, there [are] always some things here and there that bother you on this level. It's normal. Also when you're not 25 anymore, I guess you experience that a bit more than what used to be the case. It takes a little bit more time I guess to recover,” Djokovic said. “But I feel good. I miss competition. I love playing in Rome. Historically throughout my career, Rome has always been a very nice tournament for me, had plenty of success, won it many times. Played also quite a few times in [the] final.”

Djokovic admitted that it takes more time for him to get used to clay than other surfaces. The 35-year-old explained that there are multiple factors that go into that.

“It's the movement. Every bounce more or less is different. It's such an irregular-bounce surface. You have wind. You have clay, a surface that is alive basically. Let's call it this way. Like grass in a way,” Djokovic said. “On clay, if you have a windy day, wind takes out the top layer of the surface, and it affects the bounce, it affects the spin of the ball, the speed of the court. Of course, if it rains or something like this, the conditions are different every single day, then it affects whether the clay is softer or harder.

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.

Not being too frustrated in defeat or getting too carried away after wins has been Argentine player Tomas Martin Etcheverry’s main goal recently on the ATP Tour. But that search for balance in his career has required a lot of discipline, and above all, time. When he was nine years old, after losing in the semi-finals of a junior tournament in Carilo, a few hours by car from his home in La Plata, he cried so much that his parents regretted ever having introduced him to the game of tennis.

“I remember that match. I was very young and I liked the trophy. It had coloured and golden things on it. I wanted to win and have it in my room, whatever the cost. But I lost and I cried all the way back home,” Etcheverry recalled in an interview with ATPTour.com. “We all have things from the past we’d like to change. But it’s also part of the process.”

One thing that never needed addressing was his attitude on court. Apart from being committed and respectful to his opponents, he was always aware that he should not take his failure out on his racquet. “I’ve never broken or hit a racquet in my life. My teachers instilled that in me. And I feel like it’s not the racquet’s fault. Also, I was always really relaxed. I wasn’t one to go looking for trouble,” adds the 23-year-old right-hander, who stands at 6-foot-5. What did need work was his reaction after a defeat, as was the case in Carilo.

[ATP APP]