The Spanish Martín Landaluce qualified this Tuesday for the quarterfinals in Rome after beating the Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 7-5 and 6-4, and He became the first player born in 2006 or later to reach this round of Masters 1,000 on both clay and hard courts.
Landaluce, 20 years old and number 94 in the ranking, once again entered the main draw in Rome as a ‘lucky loser’ after losing in the qualifying phase against the Italian Andrea Pellegrino, and back in the tournament he beat the Croatian Marin Cilic in the second round and the Italian Mattia Bellucci in the third.
The confrontation brought together two of the revelations of the tournament, who arrived after putting in great performances and making titanic efforts to achieve historic victories in their careers.
Landaluce clearly surpassed, both physically and mentally, a rival worn down by the accumulation of matches in the tournament, who even vomited on Monday before closing a victory that secured his place in the round of 16.
The Madrid native, with a very offensive and aggressive style, managed to break his rival’s serve in several games and showed an enormous level in front of a Foro Italico stand that had part of the public standing in the upper areas.
Medjedovic reached the round of 16 after beating the Argentine Mariano Navone in three sets, which was the most important victory of his career up to that point and his first presence in this round of a Masters 1,000, but which required an enormous effort that he carried over until this Tuesday’s match.
Who would have told me a few days before that I would be playing a quarterfinal on clay? An incredible week, one of the best of my life
Landaluce, for his part, arrived at the crossroads after successfully surpassing the Italian Mattia Bellucci and appear “physically and mentally strong”, convinced that he saw it as “very possible” to reach the fifth round of the tournament. “Who would have told me a few days before that I would be playing a quarterfinal on clay? An incredible week, one of the best of my life,” said the tennis player at the end of the match, still on the court.
With this victory against the Serbian, certified in one hour and forty-eight minutes, The tennis player from Madrid reaches the quarterfinals of a Masters 1,000 for the second time in his career, the first on clay. after having achieved the best result to date in his career in March 2026 by reaching that same round in Miami, where he lost to the Czech Liri Jehecka.
Trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy and considered one of the great promises of Spanish tennis, Landaluce confirmed his progression on the circuit in Rome and certified at least number 66 in the ranking.