ROME/WASHINGTON, May 15, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 9 Daniil Medvedev was in a good and talkative mood, after he had defeated 94th-ranked lucky loser Martin Landaluce, which ended the young Spaniard’s dream run to the quarterfinals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome Thursday evening.

The No. 7 seed Medvedev from Russia rallied from a set down to defeat the #NextGenATP rising star Landaluce 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, in two hours and 23 minutes on Campo Centrale to advance to a Friday evening semifinal showdown against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

The other men’s semifinal on Friday will match up No. 18 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy against No. 23 seed Casper Ruud. The semifinal winners will play for the Italian Open title on Sunday afternoon.

The is fully booked ️

Jannik Sinner Daniil Medvedev
Casper Ruud Luciano Darderi#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/ZETVfdy8YQ

— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 14, 2026

“Happy to win a tough match,” the 2023 Rome champion Medvedev told reporters afterward. “But on clay I feel like there are more momentum swings. So, I’m happy that I managed to get back into the match after the first set, then back into the match after the second.

“In the end, felt like – actually maybe physically, maybe tennis-wise – I felt like I was playing better than him. Just didn’t manage to use all the opportunities I had completely. But I’m happy that I managed in the end to push through and get the win.”

It was Medvedev’s 50th career tour-level win on clay. It gave him his 24th victory of the 2026 season and advanced him into his 18th ATP Masters 1000 semifinal – and second one this year after reaching the last four at Indian Wells in March.

As for Landaluce, the 20-year-old Madrid native will leave Rome having boosted his PIF ATP Live Ranking to No. 62. No doubt, he will be one to keep an eye on at Roland-Garros later this month.

7-0.@DaniilMedwed is undefeated on Campo Centrale in Rome this decade #IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/Wg8oHIkApF

— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 14, 2026

Meanwhile, earlier Thursday, the top-seeded Sinner from Italy won his 32nd-straight ATP Masters 1000 match – establishing a new record and surpassing the old one of 31 in-a-row set by Novak Djokovic in 2011. The South Tyrolean defeated World No. 14 and 12th seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, 6-2, 6-4, in 91 minutes to advance to his second-straight Rome semifinal. If he beats Medvedev, Sinner would become the first Italian man to reach back-to-back Rome finals in the Open Era.

Sinner has not lost a 1000-series match since retiring against Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands at Shanghai last October. Since then, Sinner has gone on to win five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 crowns – at Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo and Madrid. If he should go on to win Rome, it would complete a set of titles won at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events, which has only been achieved by Djokovic.

Record-breaker @janniksin | #IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/o9M2zwHw9p

— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 14, 2026

Much of Medvedev’s post-match comments were centered around Sinner, who owns a 9-7 head-to-head lead against the Russian No. 1. Surprisingly, neither Medvedev, 30, nor Sinner, 24, have ever faced each other on clay. 

“I need to think a lot about my tennis,” Medvedev admitted. “I played Jannik in Indian Wells, of course it’s not a clay court, but I put up a good fight. Close in one set. Let’s put it this way. That’s what I’m going to try to do.

“Jannik is a great player, best in the world. It’s a great test to try to do my best.”

In a matter of three rounds, Medvedev has gone from facing and defeating Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz, unseeded Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina and lucky loser Landaluce – all for the first time – to meeting Sinner, a very familiar foe, whom he beat the first six times they faced each other. Since then, Sinner has won nine of the last 10 meetings and leads their career head-to-head series 9-7.

Unsinkable. ⛵️@DaniilMedwed braves the elements and a fired up Landaluce, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the semifinals in Rome!#IBI26 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/VZCS021C4G

— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 14, 2026

“It’s going to be interesting. First match on clay,” Medvedev said. “I wonder how his game is on clay? Of course, I know it’s good, but does he put maybe more topspin than hard courts, does he play exactly the same? It’s going to be interesting.

“Of course, same for me. I do play a bit differently on clay than on hard courts. It’s going to be a great test for me because I feel like on clay, maybe, I didn’t face as many top clay court players as maybe on other surfaces because, sometimes, I lose earlier. So, it’s going to be interesting for me. …

“Of course, when you play Jannik, you need your level [to be] pretty high.”

A reporter asked Medvedev what kind of strategy he would employ against Sinner, especially since he’s never played against him on clay.

“Very easy: to play like Martin [Landaluce] played the first set. Go full power and [hit] every ball on the line,” Medvedev said. 

“It’s a small joke, but in a way to beat Jannik, you need to play your best tennis, which we’re not crazy. I’m not going to touch the line on every shot. You need to have a good day so that your shots are working, your serve is working, you put him under pressure. It’s not easy to do this kind of stuff.”

Medvedev added: “Again, it’s tennis; it’s sports. Everything is possible! He’s losing much less than he’s winning. As my friend Andrey [Rublev] said, ‘He’s going to lose at one moment.’ When I step on the court, I will try to make him lose the next match.”