Italian Open chiefs urged to 'do away' with rule after Daniil Medvedev's complaint against Jannik Sinner

The ATP Tour have been told to introduce an immediate rule change at the Italian Open after Daniil Medvedev issued a complaint against Jannik Sinner.

Sinner was leading Medvedev 6-2 5-7 4-2 when their semi-final match was interrupted due to rain on Friday night.

Before the delay, Sinner - playing in front of his home crowd - called for a medical timeout after appearing to suffer from physical issues throughout large parts of the match up to that point.

He was treated by medical staff for a thigh complaint, though Medvedev was less than happy and made his feelings clear to the match umpire.

"When we call the physio for cramps, we don't get fined?" he told the umpire, in French.

READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev issues complaint against Jannik Sinner before Italian Open delay

Under ATP rules, players are not allowed to ask for medical timeouts if they are cramping, though there have been concerns over players exploiting the rule by indicating that they are injured instead.

The ATP do allow players to receive treatment for muscle cramping either during the time allotted for changeovers or set breaks.

Sinner needed a medical timeout during the third set of his Italian Open semi-final (Image: Getty)

"In cases where there is doubt about whether the player suffers from an acute medical condition, non-acute medical condition inclusive of muscle cramping, or non-treatable medical condition, the decision of the physiotherapist, in conjunction with the tournament doctor, if appropriate, is final," the rule continues.

"There may be a total of two (2) full change-of-ends treatments for muscle cramping in a match, not necessarily consecutive."

'It's impossible to enforce' - ATP urged to change controversial rule

It is the inclusion of the word 'doubt' in the ruling that has prompted a tennis content creator, Gil Gross, to urge the ATP to rethink how they define the 'impossible to enforce' issue.

"Daniil was upset because he was like, 'Jannik is cramping'," Gross said on his YouTube channel. "But as we discussed when Alcaraz had a similar situation against Zverev in the Australian Open semi-final, it is an entirely unenforceable rule.

"It will never be enforced. It has never been enforced. There is so much leeway for Jannik to say, 'My leg is bothering me'. It bothered him in the last match, too.

"Whether or not he is cramping, to me, they have to do away with that rule.

"It's impossible to enforce it and there's so much speculation involved trying to assess something like that. If I am in Daniil's shoes, I am thinking the same thing."

The outcome of the semi-final, when it resumes on Saturday, takes on even more significance for Medvedev, as he hasn't won an ATP 1000 final since tasting success at the Italian Open back in 2023.

Sinner, meanwhile, has won each of the last five ATP 1000 events - setting a new tennis record in the process.

The Italian Open is the final event before the French Open - the year's second major - gets underway at Roland Garros next week.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is already ruled out through injury, with Sinner the heavy favourite to win the event for what would be the first time in his career.