Pellegrino completes Italian fairy tale in Rome with stunning Tiafoe upset
Andrea Pellegrino (No 155) walked into his first ATP Masters 1000 main draw a week ago and walked out of his Rome third round bound for the round of 16. The Italian qualifier saved two set points in the tie-break before edging Frances Tiafoe (No 17) 7-6(8), 6-1 – and possibly into the path of Jannik Sinner.
Andrea Pellegrino, Rome 2026 | © Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse/SIPA Press
Italian qualifier Andrea Pellegrino, the world No. 155, knocked out No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(8), 6-1 in the third round of the Rome ATP Masters 1000 on Monday, becoming the third-lowest-ranked man to reach the round of 16 at the Foro Italico this century. Only Stan Wawrinka (No. 361 in 2022) and Lorenzo Musetti (No. 249 in 2020) have reached the Rome round of 16 from lower in the rankings this century.
Pellegrino is turning his debut Masters 1000 main draw into one of the stories of the tournament. Aged 29, had never played a Masters 1000 main draw before this week. He had also never won three ATP Tour-level matches in a row – until now.
After breaking Tiafoe twice for a 4-0 lead, the Italian let the American back in. Tiafoe trailed 3-5 before reaching 5-5, then forced a tie-break in which he twice held set point – at 7-6 and 8-7 – before Pellegrino converted his fourth set point to seal the opener. The second set was a procession: a single break, then the line. Pellegrino broke serve four times across the match and won eight of the final ten points.
Tiafoe averaged 187 km/h on first serve and could not find his rhythm, piling up 27 unforced errors against 20 winners. Pellegrino kept the ledger even at 24 winners and 24 unforced errors, and let his higher-ranked opponent do the damage.
It is Pellegrino’s third top-30 win – he also beat then-No. 19 Félix Auger-Aliassime at the Estoril Challenger last year en route to the final, the biggest result of his career until this week.
The Italian is set to climb to a new career high of around No. 124 from his current No. 131 on the live rankings, provided this is the third match in his current run he has won at ATP Tour level — which it is. Next, Jannik Sinner or Alexei Popyrin.
