The world No. 1 was rusty on his first match back after three months away. His Italian Open draw means he cannot afford to be so for long.

Zheng Qinwen earned her first victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 to set up an Italian Open semifinal match against Coco Gauff.

Alexander Zverev’s Italian Open campaign ended in frustration after a gripping quarterfinal battle against home favorite Lorenzo Musetti. A match marked not only by high-level tennis, but also by a heated exchange with the chair umpire over the quality of the balls.

Emma Raducanu was dumped out of the Italian Open on Monday after a two-set hammering at the hands of Coco Gauff. But British hopes for a title in Rome do not end there, as Jack Draper is still fighting on in the men's draw ahead of his round-of-16 meeting with Corentin Moutet.

Sinner is Italy's chosen one. At the Foro Italico in Rome, his comeback from an anti-doping ban overtakes all else in tennis.

Zheng, meanwhile, remained unfazed by the drama and maintained her focus, edging closer to a potential breakthrough title.

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are out of the Italian Open women's doubles tournament after a 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 quarterfinal loss to Russians Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider on Wednesday.

Plastic sheets cover the field during a thunderstorm prior to the start round of sixteen match between Jannik Sinner and Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome,