Four matches into his comeback at the Italian Open, the level displayed by Jannik Sinner had only underscored his status as the best tennis player in the world. He had marched past every challenge in his path, reaching the semi-finals without dropping a set.
Consistent excellence in professional tennis, however, also means finding solutions when things aren’t going well. Sinner handled his first real challenge in Rome spectacularly well, recovering from heavily losing the first set to smother Tommy Paul of the United States 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. “These kind of matches I need,” said Sinner. “I’m happy how we handled this kind of situation, especially going on court and not feeling great.”
The victory sent him into the final on his return from a three-month anti-doping suspension and set up the dream scenario for the tournament, a rekindling of the rivalry that will probably define the new generation of men’s tennis.
Sinner will face Carlos Alcaraz, the third seed, on Sunday after the Spaniard demonstrated his improving discipline and consistency by remaining solid in difficult windy conditions to defeat the eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (4).
“He’s playing great,” said Alcaraz on the possibility of facing Sinner. “I’ve been watching his matches. His level is really high right now. Every time that I play against him is always a battle, is always really, really tough. I kind of enjoy that as well. But if I play him in the final it would be even more challenging playing against him at home with the people behind him supporting him.”
One night on from Sinner’s 6-0, 6-1 demolition of the recent Madrid Open champion Casper Ruud, another full crowd converged on Campo Centrale for a glimpse of the national hero whose status afforded him a meeting with the new Pope Leo mid-tournament.
Paul, a talented, well-rounded player and one of the best athletes in the game, took the right lessons from seeing Sinner dismantle one of the best players in the world. He came out the blocks quickly, swinging freely, returning brilliantly and maintaining immaculate depth off both wings.
The defensive capabilities of Paul were clearly playing on Sinner’s mind in extremely slow, heavy conditions and his early tentative play gave way to a slew of errors. After 20 minutes, it was Sinner trying desperately just to get on the board as he trailed 5-0 and then quickly lost the set.
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It did not take long for Sinner to find his way again, settling into the second set with an authoritative hold before forcing himself on to the front foot and breaking with a fierce backhand down-the-line winner. As Sinner continued to impose relentless pressure with his brutal, metronomic groundstrokes, Paul buckled.
By the time the Italian led 2-0 in set three, after winning eight games in a row, he was in complete control. There was, however, one final twist. At 3-1, Sinner threw in a loose service game to give back the break. After shaking out his leg earlier in the set, his limp between points had gradually become more pronounced.
Within the rallies, however, Sinner continued to chase down every ball and continued his dominance from the baseline with his far greater pace and weight of shot as he closed out another supreme win. “I hope to recover in the best possible way,” said Sinner on his physical issues. “Since a couple of matches [I have had] a blister under the foot, which then some other muscles, they work. I’m not concerned about my leg. Hopefully the blister is going to be healed as fast as possible. But in any case, as I said, there are no excuses, no? I’m in the final. I give it the best I have Sunday, then we see what’s coming.”
