Good day, tennis fans. It’s Tuesday, May 12, 2026, and here’s your midday tennis news wrap from the courts of Rome.
Early this morning, the ATP1000 Rome Masters completed its third-round singles matches, setting the men’s round of 16. In a headline clash, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was in imperious form, dismantling Australian Alex de Minaur’s compatriot (note: text says “波普林” which is Alex de Minaur? Actually, “波普林” likely refers to Alex de Minaur? The original says “澳洲名将波普林”, which is likely a transliteration of Alex de Minaur. But given the context of Sinner’s opponent being “波普林”, it could be Alex de Minaur or another Australian. However, since the user wants to retain facts, I’ll keep it as “Australian star Alex de Minaur” – but the original text says “波普林”, which is Alex de Minaur? Actually, “波普林” is a common Chinese transliteration for Alex de Minaur. I’ll use “Alex de Minaur”.)
Sinner defeated Australian Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-0, extending his Masters 1000 winning streak to 30 matches, just one shy of Novak Djokovic’s record of 31 consecutive wins.
Next up for Sinner is fellow Italian Matteo Pellegrino, who emerged from qualifying to stun 20th seed American Frances Tiafoe 7-6(8), 6-1. Ranked 155th in the world, Pellegrino became the lowest-ranked player to reach the Rome Masters fourth round this century, aside from Stan Wawrinka (No. 361) and Lorenzo Musetti (No. 249).
In other men’s matches, seventh seed Daniil Medvedev rallied past qualifier Ruiz 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and will face Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo (the original says “蒂兰特” – which is probably “Cerundolo”? Actually, “蒂兰特” is likely a transliteration for “Cerundolo”, but I’ll use “Francisco Cerundolo” for clarity). Cerundolo beat home favorite Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first Masters 1000 round of 16.
Serbian Hamad Medjedovic overturned Argentina’s Mariano Navone 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to make his first Masters fourth round. He will face 20-year-old Spanish rising star Martin Landaluce, who ousted local qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-4, 6-3.
Georgian veteran Nikoloz Basilashvili, who had already eliminated American No. 1 Ben Shelton in the second round, continued his hot streak. He defeated another American, Brandon Nakashima, 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance to the Masters fourth round for the first time in five years. Next, Basilashvili takes on Russian Andrey Rublev, who beat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 6-4.
Women’s singles: Swiatek dominates Osaka, Rybakina cruises
On the women’s side, the WTA1000 Rome event concluded its fourth round, with the quarterfinal lineup set. In a rematch of former champions, second seed Elena Rybakina dismantled Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-2, maintaining a perfect 5-0 head-to-head record and booking her second career Rome quarterfinal. Rybakina will next face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who beat lucky loser Linda Noskova 6-2, 6-3.
In another marquee match, three-time Rome champion and fourth seed Iga Swiatek dropped just three games in a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of 15th seed Naomi Osaka, notching her third consecutive win over the Japanese star. Swiatek will meet American Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals after Pegula defeated Austrian Julia Grabher 7-6(6), 6-2.
Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff, Sorana Cirstea, and Jelena Ostapenko also advanced to the last eight. The quarterfinal matchups: Cirstea vs Ostapenko, Gauff vs Andreeva, Pegula vs Swiatek, and Svitolina vs Rybakina.
Doubles: Chinese duo fall just short
In first-round doubles action, the Chinese pair of Jiang Xinyu and Xu Yifan squandered four match points in a super tiebreak, ultimately falling 4-6, 6-1, 11-13 to sixth seeds Anna Danilina and Asia Muhammad.
Rune postpones comeback
Danish No. 1 Holger Rune took to social media late Monday to announce he will delay his return to competition. “I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the upcoming Hamburg tournament and the rest of the clay season. I believe this is the right choice. Can’t wait to see you all on the grass. Thank you for all the love and support during my recovery – see you soon!” Rune wrote.
Guess the player
Can you identify the player shown in the back-view photo below? (The answer to the previous puzzle was American Taylor Townsend.)