ROME/WASHINGTON, May 12, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
As the Internazionali BNL d’Italia draw has reduced in size from 96 players to 16 for the final four rounds of the year’s fifth ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, arguably, the most surprising name belongs to the least-known of the four remaining Italians: Andrea Pellegrino.
On Monday, the 29-year-old Pellegrino, a 155th-ranked qualifier from Bisceglie in the Apulia region of southern Italy, pulled off a surprising upset of World No. 22 and 20th-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States, 7-6 (8), 6-1, in an hour and 56 minutes on BNP Paribas Arena, the second-largest show court at Foro Italico. The victory advanced him into the fourth round, where his next opponent will be none other than World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy.
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Pellegrino’s triumph over Tiafoe was his third-straight main-draw victory in Rome after coming through two rounds of qualifying last week, in which he earned wins over Hugo Gaston of France and Martin Landaluce of Spain. He’s the third-lowest-ranked man to reach the round of 16 in Rome this century. Ironically, Landaluce entered the main draw as a lucky loser and is also through to the fourth round.
Pellegrino began his first ATP Masters 1000 main-draw on a positive note with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow Italian Luca Nardi, then won by retirement over No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France, when the Frenchman retired after trailing 0-4 in the opening set.
“It is amazing,” Pellegrino, a four-time ATP Challenger Tour titlist, said during his on-court interview with ATP Media after defeating Tiafoe. “When I came here at the beginning of the tournament, I didn’t expect to reach this kind of record. I am very happy with my game. I have played five matches and it is a really good level. I am so happy.”
Pellegrino, who is playing on his favorite surface (clay) in his favorite tournament city (Rome), recorded his third Top-30 win by striking 24 winners and converting four of eight break points. He outpointed Tiafoe 76-60, winning on his second match-point try to improve to 5-2 in tour-level play this season – 7-5 at tour-level for his career, which began when he turned pro in 2016 after peaking at No. 27 as a junior.
Against the odds 🎲
Lowest-ranked men to reach the last 16 at the #IBI26 👇
1 – Stan Wawrinka, 2022: World No.361
2 – Lorenzo Musetti, 2020: World No.249
3 – Andrea Pellegrino, 2026: World No.155 pic.twitter.com/dDtUSIg9lA— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 11, 2026
The 6-foot-1-inch, 179-pound Pellegrino has compiled a 164-168 record on the ATP Challenger Tour (including 4-8 in finals). He won titles at Rome-1 in 2021, Vicenza in 2022, Bad Waltersdorf in 2023 and Perugia in 2025. His best tour-level result this season has been a quarterfinal finish after reaching the main draw as a qualifier at Santiago in February, also on clay. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 125 as a result of his run in Chile.
After securing Monday’s third-round match against Tiafoe, the American No. 5 walked around to Pellegrino’s side of the court to embrace him on his victory. Soon, the Italian smiled, raised his sleeveless arms aloft and soaked in the applause of the Roman fans. He wanted to embrace the moment for as long as he could.
“I started very well, playing really well,” said Pellegrino, who jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set before finally winning the set in a tie-break on his sixth set-point opportunity. “Then I started to think I was up and became a bit tight. His level got up and the match was not easy because of the wind. The conditions were not easy. But I was there every point, fighting every point. I’m very happy about that.”
FORZA 🙌
Andrea Pellegrino’s dream run continues after beating Tiafoe 7-6(8) 6-1 to reach the fourth round!#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/ckni43D0hg
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 11, 2026
As for facing Sinner in the fourth round Tuesday afternoon on Campo Centrale, it’s something Pellegrino looks forward to. They’ve met once before, back in March 2019 on the ITF World Tennis Tour. It was in the final of a 25K on clay at Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy. Sinner, who was 17-years-old at the time, won 6-1, 6-1 for his second ITF Futures title of the year.
“If I play against him, it will be a really good experience for me,” Pellegrino said, before Sinner took the court and beat No. 60 Alexei Popyrin of Australia, 6-2, 6-0, for his 30th-straight ATP Masters 1000 victory. “Maybe we will play on Centre, where I have never played.”
Later, during a post-match interview with Italian tennis publication Ubitennis, Pellegrino said what Sinner has accomplished this season (translated from Italian) “is out of the ordinary. It’s a category above.”
Pellegrino added: “Tomorrow, I’ll take the [court] and try to have fun. I still haven’t imagined it. It will excite me a lot. I will play in front of 10,000 people in [Campo Centrale], against the strongest player in the world. It will be an incredible emotion. …
“To be here in Rome is very special for me.”
