Tennis Tracker: Medvedev beats Rune in Rome to claim first clay title
21:09 CET - On a day in which Daniil Medvedev finally conquered clay, it feels only appropriate to round things out with a look at how he did it.
20:57 CET - While Medvedev was reigning supreme in Rome, Jack Draper (21) beat Alexandre Muller (26) in Lyon, Benoit Paire (34) lost to Christopher Eubanks (27) in Geneva and Jill Teichmann (25) won against Maryna Zanevksa (29) in Strasbourg.
20:26 CET - Here is our ATP Flashmoment of the day from the final in Rome.
19:31 CET - In a turn of events that precious few people would have seen coming at the start of the year, Daniil Medvedev (27) has won his first clay title, and one of the biggest.
The Russian, who has been hugely impressive, has beaten Holger Rune (20) 7-5, 7-5 in Rome to win his sixth Masters 1000 title and move up to number two in the world.
18:28 CET - A tight first set in Rome has gone the way of Medvedev, who has won it 7-5.
17:45 CET - In Strasbourg, Elina Svitolina (28) has beaten Louisa Chirico (27) 6-4, 7-6, while Marco Cecchinato (30 ) has won 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 against Ben Shelton (20) in the opening round of the Geneva Open.
In Rome meanwhile, the final between Medvedev and Rune is underway.
15:52 CET - The first match of the Lyon Open has gone the way of Juan Pablo Varillas (27), who has beaten Albert Ramos-Vinolas 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.
14:42 CET - The WTA Strasbourg Open is getting underway today, and Kaia Kanepi (37) has just claimed victory over Xinyu Wang (21) there, winning 6-3, 6-2.
14:26 CET - Discussing his reasons for withdrawing from the French Open, Murray has stated that he feels good physically but feels he has a better chance of success at Wimbledon, so wants to focus on that.
"It’s just what the right thing is to prioritise at this stage in my career. I trust my body now but I'm aware that my best chance of having a deep run is more likely to happen at Wimbledon."
14:20 CET - Huge Nys (32) and Jan Zielinski (26) have won the ATP doubles title in Rome, beating Robin Haase (36) and Botic van de Zandschulp (27) 7-5, 6-1.
13:39 CET - Andy Murray (36) has withdrawn from the French Open to prepare for the grass-court season ahead of Wimbledon.
13:22 CET - The men's doubles final in Rome, in which Dutch pair Robin Haase (36) and Botic van de Zandschulp (27) are taking on Huge Nys (32) and Jan Zielinski (26), has just gotten underway.
8:18 CET - Elena Rybakina (23) will head to the French Open with the confidence that she can be as effective on clay as she is on the other two surfaces with her booming serve and groundstrokes after the Kazakh world number six won the Italian Open on Saturday.
The Moscow-born bagged her second title of 2023 after her Indian Wells triumph and fifth overall when Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina retired while trailing 6-4, 1-0.
Wimbledon champion Rybakina became the sixth woman since the introduction of the WTA 1000 format in 2009 to win a Grand Slam or Masters title on every surface after Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza and Ash Barty.
"I think with my game, I can play good on all the surfaces," said Rybakina, who also reached the Australian Open and Miami finals this season.
"It's just maybe for clay I need to be ready more physically and have a lot of preparation which I don't always have the time for after the hardcourt season."
Rybakina reached the third round at Roland Garros last year and hoped playing in Paris would be easier this time.
"The tournament is pretty long. Hopefully I can go far. I have good memories playing there," Rybakina said.
Read the full story here.
7:20 CET - Daniil Medvedev (27)‘s record on clay has often been judged underwhelming in comparison to his performances on hard courts. He has a chance to change that as he takes on Holger Rune (20) today, the young Dane on the other hand already has a clay title under his belt this year in the Munich Open. Both men with a lot to win and setting up an exciting clash this afternoon.
They follow the WTA version’s finale that took place yesterday which saw Elena Rybakina (23) triumph over Anhelina Kalinina (26). The Ukrainian was forced to retire when the result was at 6-4, 1-0 in the Kazakh's favour.