Rome, May 9 (IANS) Daniil Medvedev received an early boost in his campaign at the Italian Open after Czech player Tomas Machac withdrew from the tournament due to illness on Saturday. The withdrawal, confirmed by the ATP ahead of the day’s play in Rome, handed former champion Medvedev a walkover into the third round without the Russian needing to step onto court.

Machac, currently ranked world No. 53, had been scheduled to face Medvedev in one of the headline second-round contests at the Foro Italico. Instead, the 2023 Rome champion now advances directly and will face the winner of the clash between France’s Corentin Moutet and Spain’s Pablo Llamas Ruiz.

The late withdrawal also forced organisers to make several changes to Saturday’s schedule. Andrey Rublev’s encounter against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic was moved to Centre Court, while the Moutet-Llamas Ruiz fixture was shifted to the Supertennis Arena.

Meanwhile, action on Court 1 was rescheduled to begin at midday, with the match between Chile’s Christian Garin and Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina set for no earlier than 2:00 PM local time.

For Medvedev, the walkover comes at a useful moment in an otherwise inconsistent clay-court season. The former world No. 1 has struggled to find rhythm on the surface in recent weeks, suffering a shocking first-round exit at the Monte-Carlo Masters after a one-sided defeat to Matteo Berrettini.

The Russian showed some improvement at the Madrid Open 2026, winning two matches before losing to home favourite Flavio Cobolli in the fourth round. Medvedev, however, has previously enjoyed success in Rome, lifting the title in 2023. Since then, he has endured back-to-back fourth-round exits, losing to Tommy Paul in 2024 and Lorenzo Musetti last year.

The Russian still faces a difficult route if he hopes to reclaim the title this season. He is projected to meet world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, with dangerous opponents such as Felix Auger-Aliassime and rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca also lurking in his section of the draw.

Elsewhere in Sinner’s quarter, young stars Jakub Mensik, Arthur Fils and Ben Shelton are among the players aiming to shake up the tournament. Should Medvedev reach the championship match, second seed Alexander Zverev is considered the most likely finalist from the opposite half of the draw.

–IANS

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