BNL d'Italia 2023 Report

The BNL d'Italia is traditionally the last major pre- Roland Garros tournament, and the tournament lineup reflected this. The entire world top ten was present, including Novak Djokovic ( world number one and six-time winner in Rome) and Carlos Alcaraz (world number two and previously won the 2023 Madrid Open). Former winners Alexander Zverev (2017) and Andy Murray (2016) were also present, and Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman were among the other former finalists on the list. Rafael Nadal, a ten-time winner in Rome, had to withdraw due to injury, as did Matteo Berrettini.

Two Dutch tennis players were initially scheduled to participate in the 2023 BNL d'Italia, but Tallon Griekspoor was forced to withdraw a day before his match against Argentinian Sebastian Baez. Griekspoor was still struggling with his injury and therefore decided to give up his spot to lucky loser Alezander Shevchenko. Botic van de Zandschulp was the other Dutchman participating in the 2023 BNL d'Italia. Van de Zandschulp faced Laslo Djere in his first match, but couldn't find his best form and saw his Serbian opponent win 6-2/6-4.

Highlights BNL d'Italia 2023

Besides Van de Zandschulp, several other seeded players failed to reach the third round. Murray, for example, had already failed to make it through the first round, being eliminated by Fabio Fognini, and American Jeffrey John Wolf proved too strong for Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. The second round also proved to be the end of the road for Taylor Fritz. The American, number nine in the world, was defeated 6-4/6-1 by Yannick Hanfmann (ATP-101). Karen Khachanov and Roberto Bautista-Agut also failed at this stage of the tournament. The Russian lost in three sets to Gregoire Barrere, while the Spaniard went down 6-2/6-2 to Marco Cecchinato (ATP-83).

The biggest upset of the tournament, however, occurred in the third round. The 23-year-old Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, who has won one title at the Challenger level so far, played the match of his life, defeating top favorite Alcaraz in straight sets: 6-3/7-6. Alcaraz had already won four titles in 2023 and was hoping to add his fifth title of the year to his tally in Rome, but Marozsan (ATP-135) thwarted that. Incidentally, Djokovic also had a tough time in the third round of the BNL d'Italia 2023. The Serb dropped a set to his opponent Grigor Dimitrov, but ultimately won his match.

Notable defeats for Sinner and Rublev

While Maroszan managed to pull off an upset in the third round with a victory over Alcaraz, it was all over for him a round later. The Hungarian managed to win the first set against Borna Coric, but the Croat rallied and still advanced to the quarterfinals. Those who didn't qualify for the quarterfinals were Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev. Sinner was surprisingly defeated by Francisco Cerundolo, while Rublev – like Fritz – lost to Hanfmann. Other outsiders for the title in Rome, such as Medvedev (against Zverev), Tsitsipas (against Lorenzo Musetti), and Casper Ruud (against Djere), however, did manage to win their matches and thus, like Djokovic and Holger Rune, reached the last eight.

During the quarterfinals, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and Ruud delivered, defeating Hanfmann, Coric, and Cerundulo, respectively. For Djokovic, however, it was a different story. The world number one faced Rune and discovered in the first set (6-2 to Rune) that it would be a tough challenge. The Serb fought back and took the second set 6-4, forcing a third and deciding set. Rune broke his opponent's serve twice, giving him an immediate 4-0 lead, a lead the Dane held on to.

Finale BNL d'Italia 2023

Rune subsequently managed to break Ruud's lead in three sets, while Medvedev won his semifinal match 7-5/7-5 against Tsitispas. This ensured that the final of the BNL d'Italia 2023 became a Russian-Danish clash between the third and seventh seeds. As expected, it was a thrilling match that could have gone either way for a long time. Medvedev was the first player to break service, and he did so at a good moment, immediately taking the set 7-5. More service breaks were recorded in the second set, and Rune seemed poised for a set win, but Medvedev fought back from a 3-5 deficit to take the second set 7-5. This meant the Russian secured the BNL d'Italia title, a remarkable achievement, as Medvedev had never previously managed to win a title on clay.