Daniil Medvedev makes his mark on clay by beating Holger Rune for Italian Open title

The Russian beat Holger Rune on Sunday for the first clay-court trophy of a career that includes the 2021 U.S. Open title and a period at No. 1 in the rankings.

Daniil Medvedev hadn’t won a single match in his three previous appearances at the Italian Open.

Daniil Medvedev of Russia celebrates defeating Denmark's Holger Rune during the men's final tennis match at the Italian Open(AP)

Now he’s won the tournament.

The Russian beat rising 20-year-old Danish player Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 on Sunday for the first clay-court trophy of a career that includes the 2021 U.S. Open title and a period at No. 1 in the rankings.

Medvedev was previously known almost exclusively for his prowess on hard courts, with 18 of his previous 19 titles coming on that surface — the other was on grass in Mallorca. But he now must be considered a contender at the French Open — the clay-court Grand Slam — which starts next Sunday.

There’s room for a new champion at Roland Garros after 14-time winner Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he won’t be competing in the tournament because of a lingering hip injury that has sidelined him since January.

Rune, who eliminated six-time Rome champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, should also leave the Foro Italico confident for Paris. He was also the runner-up to Andrey Rublev at the Monte Carlo Masters last month and then won a clay title in Munich.

The final started nearly two hours late due to a rain delay — a day after Medvedev’s semifinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas was interrupted by rain suspensions for a total of nearly 4 ½ hours.

Earlier Sunday, organizers announced that they plan to install a retractable roof over Campo Centrale by 2026.

When the new rankings are released on Monday, Medvedev will rise to No. 2 and Carlos Alcaraz will return to No. 1, while Djokovic will drop from No. 1 to No. 3. Alcaraz, Medvedev and Djokovic therefore will be seeded first, second and third, respectively, at the French Open.

___

Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf

___

AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports