John Isner and Diego Schwartzman’s partnership continued its dream run at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Saturday, as the ‘little and large’ combination overcame Andrey Golubev and Maximo Gonzalez in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Isner and Schwartzman won 81 per cent (38/47) of points behind their first serve in the match, but Golubev and Gonzalez were still able to clinch the only break of the second set and force a Match Tie-break on Pietrangeli.

A tense climax saw Isner and Schwartzman let a first match point slip at 9/8 in the Match Tie-break, but they made no mistake the second time around to complete a 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 victory and move within one win of a Masters 1000 title in their first tour-level appearance together.

The triumph makes Isner the first player to reach three Masters 1000 doubles finals with three different players in the same year. The American lifted the trophy at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with countryman Jack Sock in March, and then claimed the Miami Open presented by Itau crown with Hubert Hurkacz later that month.

In Sunday’s championship match, Isner and Schwartzman will face third seeds and defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, or home favourites Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.

Novak Djokovic earned his 1,000th career tour-level win on Saturday with his 6-4, 6-3 victory over Casper Ruud in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The Serbian turned pro in 2003 and scored his first ATP Tour victory in 2004. Fittingly, he captured his 1,000th win in Rome, where he is a five-time champion and has never lost before the quarter-final stage in 16 appearances. 

The 34-year-old will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final as he attempts to claim a record-extending 38th ATP Masters 1000 title to go along with his 20 Grand Slam trophies and 86 tour-level titles. 

How well have you been following the World No. 1 throughout his legendary career? Take our quiz to test your knowledge and look back at some of the highlights from Djokovic’s march to 1,000 wins.

Matteo Berrettini is back on the practice court after undergoing surgery on his right hand in March, but the World No. 8’s comeback schedule will not include competing at Roland Garros at the end of May.

“Following a very positive update from my medical team, I am now back on-court training at a high level,” announced the Italian on Instagram on Saturday. “My hand is feeling great and I am working hard to build up my match fitness.

“My team and I have made the decision that going straight back into five-set matches on clay at Roland Garros would not be sensible, therefore I will delay my comeback to compete in the full grass season.”

Berrettini reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year before falling to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, his best run at the Grand Slam event in the French capital, which will be held this year from 22 May to 5 June. The 26-year-old Berrettini is currently 9-6 for the 2022 season, having reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matteo Berrettini (@matberrettini)

Despite the disappointment of missing out on this year’s clay season, Berrettini will return on another surface on which he has enjoyed significant success. The Italian won a second grass-court title at the Cinch Championships in London last year, before going on to reach a maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic captured his 1,000th tour-level victory on Saturday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. To celebrate the Serbian reaching this historic landmark, ATPTour.com looks back at the records of Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, with all five ATP Tour stars hitting the 1,000 match-win record in the Open Era.

Most Tour-Level Wins in Open Era

Age on 1,000th Win

Record as of 1,000th Win

Tour-Level Titles as of 1,000th Win

Grand Slam Titles as of 1,000th Win

Record vs. Top 10 as of 1,000th Win

Most-Often Defeated Opponent as of 1,000th Win

Longest Winning Streak

Statistics courtesy of Joshua Rey

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev wrote another gripping chapter in their 2022 clay-court rivalry at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday afternoon, with fourth-seeded Tsitsipas running out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner in the semi-finals in Rome.

In the third clay-court ATP Masters 1000 semi-final between the pair this season, Tsitsipas recovered from the disappointment of losing a hard-fought opening set to complete a stirring comeback win and reach the final in the Italian capital for the first time.

“He wasn’t giving me much, he made me work hard for every single point,” said Tsitsipas after the match. “I’m extremely proud of the way things turned around, and I was able to read the gameplay a little bit better and understand what was working at that time.”

The victory was Tsitsipas’ 31st of 2022, extending his lead over second-placed Carlos Alcaraz (28) on the leaderboard for most match wins for the season. His run to the semi-finals in Rome has moved the Greek up one place to No. 4 in the Pepperstone Live ATP Rankings, and Tsitsipas’ outstanding form on the clay has put him among the favourites for the French Open at Roland Garros in a week’s time.

The Greek was particularly strong on serve throughout against Zverev and stayed consistent from the baseline to halt his opponent’s early momentum in an engrossing two-hour, 29-minute win. Tsitsipas was delighted to have made it a maiden championship match in Rome, having suffered semi-final disappointment against Rafael Nadal in 2019.

“It’s one of those tournaments that I think has the most history in sport,” said Tsitsipas. “As you can see looking around the sides, one of the most beautiful stadiums. There’s a lot of history playing on these courts and you feel very proud that you made your way here and are able to participate in such a historically rich event.”

FOLLOW THIS WEEK’S ACTION

📺 TV Schedule
🎾 Watch Live On Tennis TV
📱 Follow Live Scores On ATP Tour App
📧 Sign Up For Newsletters

Tsitsipas was a straight-sets winner over Zverev en route to the title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April, but the German exacted revenge for that semi-final defeat with a three-set win in the final four at the Mutua Madrid Open a week ago. Tsitsipas and Zverev are the only players to reach the semi-finals at all three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments on clay this season, meaning anticipation was high for a blockbuster clash at the Foro Italico.

A high-quality opening saw no break points in the opening six games, with both players demonstrating the impressive serving that has powered their strong form on the clay this year. It was Zverev who made the first move, converting the only break point of the set for 4-3, and the German found enough first serves to resist a Tsitsipas fightback as he clinched an entertaining first set.

As in Madrid last week, Tsitsipas was able to recover from dropping the opening set to generate a momentum swing in the second. The Greek was aided by a lapse in Zverev’s level, however, with the second seed double faulting to hand Tsitsipas an early break for 2-0. Although Zverev deployed his first serve to good effect to fend off Tsitsipas’ efforts to break again, the Greek remained comfortable behind his own delivery to force a decider.

Although he competed well throughout, Zverev was never quite able to regain the consistency in his groundstrokes from the first set. Tsitsipas’ ballstriking remained solid rather than spectacular, but that proved enough to break the German twice more as the Greek ran out a comfortable winner in the deciding set.

The win extends Tsitsipas’ ATP Head2Head series lead over Zverev to 8-4. The Greek will play for a third Masters 1000 title in Sunday’s championship match, where his opponent will be World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or fifth seed Casper Ruud.