Tennis LIVE: Italian Open chiefs take emergency action after matches suspended

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will be hoping to rewrite the history books when he steps onto court to face Andrey Rublev today.

The Italian is currently tied with Novak Djokovic for the longest match-winning streak at Masters 1000 level, winning 31 matches in a row.

Should he beat Rublev, it would be his 32nd-consecutive victory at the Masters tournaments, and Sinner would set a new record.

We're used to seeing an Italian and a Spaniard battling it out on the court, thanks to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

But last night, Luciano Darderi and Rafael Jodar took centre-stage in a thrilling late-night battle at the Foro Italico.

Darderi made it into his first Masters semi-final, and is now set to rise to a career-high ranking of No. 16, and he could still go further.

Jodar, meanwhile, will climb to No. 29 and overtake Joao Fonseca to become the highest-ranked teenager on tour.

Italian ace Luciano Darderi reached a maiden Masters 1000 semi-final on home soil last night, beating Rafael Jodar 7-6(5) 5-7 6-0.

He might have beaten world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the previous round, but the home favourite believes his dramatic quarter-final clash with Jodar was his best-ever win.

"I think it’s the best win of my career because of the crowd, everything here in Rome. First time in the semi-finals, it’s a dream to play here," he said after winning shortly after 2am local time.

"It was difficult because we started around 11pm, the court was really slow. Rafa is an amazing player, he’s so young, just 19 years old. I had my chance in the second set, but then he played just amazing. But I just kept fighting, and I’m very happy about that."

Elina Svitolina is back into the semi-finals of the Italian Open for the first time since 2018. She went all the way that year, lifting the trophy for the second season in a row.

In the years since, Svitolina has taken a break from tennis to welcome her daughter, Skai, with husband, ATP star Gael Monfils. Svitolina returned from her pregnancy break in 2023, and this year, returned to the top-10 for the first time since becoming a mother.

And the Ukrainian star, who faces No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek in today's semi-final, has explained that it's even better getting to this stage of the Italian Open after growing her family.

The seventh seed said: "After giving birth to our beautiful daughter, Skai, it's really special for me to have these kinds of moments on the court.

"Coming back to the Top 10, playing big matches, winning them, it gives me such an amazing and really precious feeling to continue and to go for more."

Well, what a day of action we had yesterday. Hopefully the matches are just as thrilling today, just minus the delays!

Here's the Campo Centrale order of play for Thursday, with the two WTA semi-finals and last two ATP quarter-finals to be played.

Day session

Jannik Sinner vs Andrey Rublev - 12pm UK / 1pm local time

Sorana Cirstea vs Coco Gauff - not before 2pm UK / 3pm local time

Night session

Martin Landaluce vs Daniil Medvedev - not before 6pm UK / 7pm local

Iga Swiatek vs Elina Svitolina - not before 7.30pm UK / 8.30pm local

After three hours and eight minutes, Luciano Darderi beats Rafael Jodar 7-6, 5-7, 6-0.

What an absorbing contest that was - it finishes at 2.02am local time.

Darderi can barely hold in his emotions as he becomes the first Italian into the semi-finals of this tournament.

Darderi will play Casper Ruud on Friday for a place in the final.

It's 1.20am in Rome and we've now got another set to come.

Rafael Jodar has taken the second set 7-5 and this marathon match, now at two-and-a-half hours, is going to a deciding set.

A reminder, Darderi led 3-0, 40-15 in this second set.

Rafael Jodar is an animal. He saves two match points and we're level at 5-5.

Another tiebreak on the way?

Luciano Darderi is just one game away from the semi-finals.

He leads 7-6 (5), 5-4 and will book his spot in the final four if he breaks Rafael Jodar once more here.

And just like that, Rafael Jodar holds then breaks and he's right back in this set.

He trails 3-2 but can draw level if he holds serve once more here.

Rafael Jodar is now a break down in the second set on Campo Centrale.

This is brilliant stuff from Luciano Darderi, who has just had an espresso on court and is closing in on his first ever Masters 1000 semi-final.

It's quarter past midnight local time, and Luciano Darderi takes the opening set in his first-ever Masters 1000 quarter-final 7-6.

A one-hour 22-minute first set after that 18-minute delay!

We're back underway.

There's some uncertainty about whether electronic line calling is working again but the smoke has largely disappeared from inside the arena.

Luciano Darderi holds and we're heading to a first-set tiebreak.

The players are warming up and it looks like we'll resume in a few minutes, with Luciano Darderi serving to stay in the set.

What bizarre scenes.

Rafael Jodar leads Luciano Darderi 6-5 but their quarter-final match has been suspended.

The court is covered in a fog of smoke because of the nearby Coppa Italia football final, with Inter Milan beating Lazio 2-0.

The electronic line calling cannot track the ball so the match has been delayed.

Luciano Darderi has an early break on teenager Rafael Jodar in the men's quarter-final, and leads 3-2 in the opening set.

He is currently serving to go two games ahead of Jodar.

Elina Svitolina faced 20 break points in her win over Elena Rybakina - and defended 16 of them!

An incredible effort from the Ukrainian as she seeks a third Rome title.

This is her first time in the semis since 2018, when she went on to win the tournament for the second year in a row.

And it's Elina Svitolina who books her spot in the semi-finals.

The Ukrainian beats Elena Rybakina 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Svitolina faces in-form fourth seed Iga Swiatek on Friday.

On the other side of the draw, Sorana Cirstea takes on Coco Gauff.

We're into a third set in the WTA quarter-final.

Elina Svitolina has battled back to take the second 6-4 after saving five break points.

She's also just broken Elena Rybakina in the first game of this decider.

Casper Ruud admits he's not quite sure what happened during the second set of his win over Karen Khachanov but he's proud he battled back to reach the semi-finals.

After winning 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 he will play either Rafael Jodar or Luciano Darderi in the last four in Rome on Friday.

Ruud said in his on-court interview...

Advantage Elena Rybakina. She takes the first set 6-2 against Elina Svitolina.

Elina Svitolina looks frustrated, and she trails 4-1 after 20 minutes.

She's just asked for the brightness of the LED boards to be turned down a bit because of the glare.

Thursday's order of play in Rome has been confirmed.

Jannik Sinner will be the first quarter-final of the day on Campo Centrale at 1pm local time (12 midday BST).

That final match of the night could be a thriller...

The next quarter-final up is the WTA showdown between second seed Elena Rybakina and seventh seed Elina Svitolina.

We'll get the next ATP quarter-final - Jodar vs Darderi - after that.

In the men's doubles, Britain's Henry Patten - paired with Finland's Harri Heliovaara - fought back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-10 and reach the quarter-finals.

Also into the quarter-finals, but in the women's draw, are Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider who won 7-5, 6-2.

They join a stacked last eight which also includes Coco Gauff, Taylor Townsend, Katerina Siniakova and - possibly - Jessica Pegula.

Casper Ruud was wobbling in that second set but he rallies to take the third, and book his spot in the semi-finals.

He beats Karen Khachanov 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

The next men's quarter-final tonight sees Rafael Jodar face Luciano Darderi.

Casper Ruud has most definitely lost his momentum after that delay.

After winning the first set 6-1, he loses the second set 6-1 and we're all level again.

Finally, Casper Ruud and Karen Khachanov are back in action. Khachanov has just broken for a 2-0 lead in the second set, having lost the opener 6-1.

In the doubles, Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva took the first set 7-5 and lead the second set 4-1. Looks like they'll very soon be into the quarter-finals!

Top seeds in the men's draw, Great Britain's Henry Patten and team-mate Harri Heliovaara, have lost their opening set 6-4 to American duo Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen.

The women's doubles match is back underway.

The walk-on for the singles match is 6.10pm local time, so service is almost resumed.

Well, that was a lie. No play before 6pm local time now!

The bad weather has long passed and the courts are almost ready to go. Casper Ruud has just come out to inspect his.

But they're not ready to resume just yet... because the ballkids are bringing out wheelbarrows of extra clay!

It's to soak up the standing water at the back of the courts.

A fresh update from the Italian Open.

They say matches will "hopefully" resume in just over 10 minutes - 5.40pm local time.

Shouldn't be long now until we're back on court.

A reminder of the latest score in those two suspended matches...

Casper Ruud 6-1, 0-1 Karen Khachanov

Hsieh Su-wei/Wang Xinyu 3-5 Diana Shnaider/Mirra Andreeva

There will be no play before 5.30pm local time (4.30pm UK) but things are looking a little better now, with some fans returning to the stands.

Mirra Andreeva might have lost to Coco Gauff in the singles quarter-finals on Tuesday, but she's still alive in the doubles draw.

Andreeva and her partner Diana Shnaider recently finished runner-up at the Madrid Open. And they're eyeing another deep run together in Rome.

The Olympic silver medallists were in the middle of a round-of-16 clash with Hsieh Su-wei and Xinyu Wang, and led 5-3, when play was suspended on Court Piatrangeli.

Venus Williams did not get a wildcard into the singles main draw or qualifying draw at the French Open.

However, the 45-year-old tennis icon will be competing in Paris this year, making her first appearance at Stade Roland Garros since 2021.

Williams and Hailey Baptiste have signed up for the women's doubles event, and their combined ranking was enough to get them into the main draw.

There will be no play at the Italian Open before 5.15pm local time (4.15pm UK).

Lorenzo Musetti, the world No. 10 and last year's French Open semi-finalst, has just withdrawn from the second Grand Slam tournament of the season.

The Italian looked injured during his 6-3 6-1 loss to Casper Ruud in Rome on Tuesday and had his thigh bandaged while 0-3 down in the second set.

And he has now confirmed that he won't be able to compete in Paris from May 24.

"After yesterday’s match, I underwent medical examinations which revealed a rectus femoris injury, requiring several weeks of rest and recovery. Unfortunately, this means I won’t be able to compete in Hamburg and Roland Garros — news that is incredibly hard to take," he wrote.

Read more here

There will be no play before 4.45pm in Rome (3.45pm UK) which is around 20 minutes from now. But it's not looking good at the Foro Italico.

It's still throwing it down and the courts remain covered.

Iga Swiatek is a clay-court master, but it’s been a couple of years since she won a big title on the surface. The world No. 3 is looking more like her old self again, however, barely dropping games in her last three matches in Rome. She’s now through to her first WTA 1000 semi-final of the season, and feels like she’s back near her best.

“Yeah, I mean, I've been playing a bit differently, I would say. More similar to how I played couple years ago, more like a clay court player,” Swiatek said after beating Jessica Pegula for the loss of three games.

“I guess all the things that we practised really clicked during last few matches. Yeah, I was feeling that I can really add a lot of spin and a lot of power to the forehand. The trajectory was really nice. I just used it.”

It's day nine of the Italian Open, with singles quarter-finals taking place on the ATP and WTA sides.

Here's the order of play for Campo Centrale, aka centre court, and what we've seen so far today:

Day session

Iga Swiatek d. Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-2

Casper Ruud vs Karen Khachanov (suspended at 6-1 0-1)

Night session

Elina Svitolina vs Elena Rybakina

Rafael Jodar vs Luciano Darderi

Earlier on Wednesday, three-time former champion Iga Swiatek absolutely stormed into the semi-finals.

The Polish star wasted no time, needing an hour and seven minutes to beat No. 5 seed Pegula 6-1 6-2.

In her last three matches, Swiatek has dropped a combined seven games. Dominant stuff.

Karen Khachanov ended Casper Ruud’s run of five straight games as he held to go 1-0 up on serve at the beginning of set two. As the players changed ends, the chair umpire told them to wait and see whether the rain was going to get any worse. “If we just stay just a minute here, and let’s see what’s happening,” he said.

But they played on, and Ruud got his service game underway. The rainfall was so heavy that it could be heard during the rally. And after the 23rd seed went 15-0 up, they had to call it. “Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended,” the umpire announced.

“Okay, so I think the players are going to be hurried off here,” Nick Lester said on commentary, while co-commentator Miles Maclagan commended Khachanov for getting back on the board before the delay, which put some pressure on Ruud.

After Ruud and Khachanov had left the main stadium court and headed back to the locker rooms, Lester added: “The court is going to be covered, we’re going to be, perhaps, a little while here, I’m afraid to say, while the rain moves through.”

Play is currently expected to resume not before 4.45pm local time in Rome (3.45pm UK).

Casper Ruud leads Karen Khachanov 6-1 0-1 (15-0) on Campo Centrale.

Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider lead Hsieh Su-wei and Wang Xinyu 5-3 on Court Pietrangeli.

Play has been suspended due to rain at the Italian Open.

Casper Ruud had just taken the first set 6-1 over Karen Khachanov and was serving at 0-1 when the rain became too heavy to continue, and the players were rushed off the court.

The players had already been briefly held on court with Ruud leading 4-1 in the first set, but were able to play on very quickly.

The Norwegian star got through the first set in quicktime but played just one point on his serve at 0-1 in set two when they had to stop.

The women's doubles match between Mirra Andreeva / Diana Shnaider and Hsieh Su-wei / Wang Xinyu has also been suspended.