Tennis

Daniil Medvedev, the defending champion, survived a stern test from rising star Hamad Medjedovic to reach the fourth round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The 20-year-old Serb pushed Medvedev to the limit, but the Russian's experience ultimately prevailed in a thrilling three-set battle.Medvedev started strongly, breaking Medjedovic early and taking a 4-2 lead. However, the young Serb fought back, breaking Medvedev twice to force a tiebreaker. Medvedev regained his composure to clinch the first set, but Medjedovic continued to impress in the second, breaking Medvedev twice more to level the match.The third set was a rollercoaster of emotions. Medvedev surged ahead to a 4-1 lead, but Medjedovic rallied back to level the set at 4-4. The crowd erupted in cheers as the match reached its climax. Medvedev, drawing on his vast experience, broke Medjedovic one last time to secure a hard-fought victory in just under three hours."I was not playing the way I wanted to," Medvedev admitted after the match. "I never found the rhythm I wanted in any shot. But the most important is to win; it's always better to win, 6-0, 6-0, but we don't see it this often on ATP tour. Happy with the win, tomorrow is a new day when I try to improve what didn't work today."Medvedev's victory sets up a quarterfinal clash with No. 14 seed Tommy Paul, who defeated Dominik Koepfer in straight sets. Paul nearly beat Medvedev on slow conditions at the BNP Paribas Open in March, but the former world No. 1 rallied to win in three."I'll just need to reset," Medvedev said. "I won the match, so I'll do some physio work and go to sleep, try to play better tomorrow."