The 2026 Italian Open is well underway, and the tournament has already seen some big stories unfold.
Novak Djokovic crashed out of Rome in his opening match with a defeat to 20-year-old Dino Prizmic, with the Croat coming back from a set down to overcome his idol.
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On the women’s side, world number one Aryna Sabalenka also suffered a shocking loss to Romanian star Sorana Cirstea.
While the tournament is played on the same surface as Madrid, there is a big change in conditions when stars on the ATP and WTA tours take to the clay-courts of Rome after two weeks in the Spanish capital.
So far at this year’s edition of the Italian Open, players have highlighted the strong wind as a key factor, which Andrey Rublev recently suggested was unplayable.
Andrey Rublev’s assessment of the conditions at the Italian Open
Speaking on Sky Sports, presenter Gigi Salmon said of the conditions in Rome: “It’s beautiful sunshine and blue skies but the wind is troublesome.
“I had a chat earlier with Andrey Rublev and he said you can’t play tennis,” recalled Salmon.
“He said ‘I was hitting balls that I thought were going to go out, and then they were winners. They were ridiculous conditions, you cannot play like this.'”
Rublev has yet to drop a set at the Italian Open so far, having won both of his first two matches with a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline.
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The Russian defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening clash, and on Monday, he overcame Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
In the fourth round, Rublev will take on Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Andrey Rublev says he was able to use the wind in his second match
Speaking to Tennis Channel after his win over Davidovich Fokina, Rublev said: “I’m happy today about the match because the conditions were impossible to play. The crazy wind.
“In my game and Alejandro’s game, we like to hit the ball, we like to play fast, we like to dictate. So when the conditions are like this, there is no tennis like that anymore because you don’t even control the ball in terms of direction.
“Moving when the wind is blowing, today I hit a few winners, just as I was trying to hit in the middle and because the wind blew up, all of a sudden I shot amazing down the line or amazing cross-court winners.
“I was like okay so I better not even try to play somewhere just shoot in the middle the wind will do everything by itself so in the end yeah when these conditions it’s not about the level of tennis is more than I think about it.
“And like, you are able to focus and maybe, I don’t know, in the right direction, right decisions, because here it’s not about level and tennis is more about feeling. I would say, be patient, trust yourself. And that’s it, and today I was able to, in important moments, use the wind really well.”
Rublev is currently ranked 14th in the world and is seeded 12th at the Italian Open.
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