Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the Italian Open semi-finals since 2014 when she beat Russian world number 11 Diana Shnaider 6-7(1) 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday.
In a stunning first-set collapse, Paolini was 4-0 up but lost the next five games before Shnaider then forced a tiebreak, which the 21-year-old Russian dominated.
Backed into a corner, world number five Paolini mounted a comeback of her own in the second set, winning six successive games after herself trailing 4-0.
Down a break in the decider, French Open runner-up Paolini continued to show resilience with the crowd behind her to became the first Italian woman to reach the last four of the WTA 1000 event since doubles partner Sara Errani just over a decade ago.
In the men’s draw, four-times Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a second set blip to beat world number 24 Karen Khachanov 6-3 2-6 7-5 and reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
The third seed will next face Britain’s world number five Jack Draper, who rallied from a set down to beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 1-6 6-4 6-3.
Former Australian Open and US Open semi-finalist Khachanov started well and took a 3-1 lead before Alcaraz responded swiftly to level things up, making it 3-3 and sweeping the next three games to close out the opening set.
Despite being 3-2 down in the second set, Khachanov forced a decider — the first time the 28-year-old Russian had taken a set off Alcaraz in four meetings.
The Spaniard saw his lead slip away again after being up 4-1 in the third as Khachanov clawed his way back to draw level at 4-4, threatening an upset.
However, the 22-year-old Alcaraz steadied himself just in time, breaking Khachanov in the 12th game to clinch victory in two hours and 29 minutes.
‘It feels amazing to get the win at the end against a really big and really tough guy like Khachanov,’ Alcaraz said.
‘Physically I struggled a bit. Not any pain on any part of the body, but I was just tired. The match was really tough. I had to run a lot, so I’m just really proud of the way I fought for every ball.’
Lorenzo Musetti also reached the quarter-finals after heavy rain forced him to wait nearly three hours at match point before he could finish off his straight-sets victory over Daniil Medvedev.
World number nine Musetti will will face either reigning Rome champion Alexander Zverev or France’s Arthur Fils in the last eight after seeing off 2023 winner Medvedev 7-5, 6-4. But he had a nervy wait to seal his passage into the quarters at his home tournament after the heavens suddenly opened over the Foro Italico site just as the Italian was serving for the match.
Officials decided to stop play as a violent storm battered the clay courts and made it impossible to continue, even with potentially only one point left.
But Musetti held his nerve to win on the first point and made sure that his first week in the top 10 of the world rankings would bring another solid run in a big tournament after reaching the final in Monte Carlo and the last four in Madrid.
Coach Murray and Djokovic part ways: Andy Murray and former rival Novak Djokovic have ended their coaching partnership after six months, the pair announced on Tuesday.
Djokovic stunned the tennis world in November when he hired the retired Murray, who had no track record as a coach.
But the two 37-year-olds have now parted company after a tough start to the season for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, with the French Open looming.
‘Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun and support over last six months on and off the court, really enjoyed deepening our friendship together,’ said Djokovic.
Britain’s Murray, born just a week before the Serb, thanked his former adversary for the chance to work with him.
‘Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months,’ Murray said in a statement.