Italian Open 2023: Daniil Medvedev triumphs over Holger Rune in straight sets in Rome Masters final

Daniil Medvedev completed his transformation on clay with a hard-fought victory over Holger Rune to claim a shock Italian Open triumph. The Russian has made no secret of his discomfort with the surface in the past but put the icing on the cake for a sparkling run in Rome, where he had previously never won a match, to defeat the 20-year-old Dane 7-5 7-5 in one hour and 42 minutes. Ad Medvedev will now rise above Novak Djokovic to No.

2 in the world and will be seeded second at Roland Garros. ATP Rome'I was just laughing' — Medvedev finds funny side as he beats TsitsipasA DAY AGO The Russian also takes his overall tally of titles on the men’s tour to 20 with his sixth at Masters 1000 level and a first on the red dirt. It caps a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the former US Open champion having been 0-3 in Rome prior to this season and famously saying to himself: «You like to be in the dirt like a dog,» during a defeat to Aslan Karatsev at this very same tournament just two years ago.

Medvedev’s triumph marks a vast improvement on the surface since just last month as he lost to Rune in the Monte Carlo last eight, but he came good here and levels their head-to-head at 1-1 overall. Speaking on court after stretching his record to 39-5 for the season and 10-2 on clay (3-2 last year), Medvedev said: «I always want to believe in myself and I always want to win the biggest tournaments in the world. But at the same time, I didn't think I could win a Masters 1000 on clay in my career because usually I hated it, I hated playing on it.

I didn't feel good on it and nothing was working. »Before this tournament already in Madrid and Monte-Carlo I wasn't feeling too bad. I thought, 'OK, let's continue'.