Daniil Medvedev claimed the first claycourt title of his career ahead of the French Open as the Russian world No. 3 beat Denmark’s Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 in a gripping Italian Open final that began after a rain delay on Sunday.

Medvedev drew first blood in the first Rome final since 2004 not to feature 22-time grand slam champions Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, breaking in the 12th game where he met a feeble drop shot from Rune with a powerful drive to wrap up the first set.

Rune, at 20 the youngest finalist at the Foro Italico since Spaniard Nadal 17 years ago, broke to love in the first game of the second set and pounced again for a 4-3 lead after Medvedev hit back to level the scores.

But the aggressive world No. 7 appeared to run out of steam late in a physically demanding spell to hand the advantage back to Medvedev, who produced a tight hold thanks to two huge serves before closing out the victory in style.

Medvedev’s fifth title of the season leaves him as one of the top contenders for Roland Garros which begins on May 28.

Rybakina’s target

Elena Rybakina 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 No. 6 won the Italian Open on Saturday.

The Moscow-born 23-year-old bagged her second title of 2023 after her Indian Wells triumph and fifth overall when Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina retired while trailing6-4, 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 Ashleigh 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 thisseason.

“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.

“Now I’ve got more matches on clay, so it’s a bit easier and there’s a bit more confidence, definitely.”