Photo credit: Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Rhythmic clapping from the Court Centrale crowd greeted world No. 1 Jannik Sinner as he stepped out for his Rome semifinal debut.
Receiving a rock star welcome from the faithful, Sinner amped up the pace of his declarative drives rallying past Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 into his maiden Rome final.
It is the 26th consecutive victory for Sinner, who has won 40 of his last 41 matches.
Continuing his quest to become the first Italian man since legendary Adriano Panatta in 1976 to win Rome, Sinner will square off against the last man to beat him: archrival Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster Rome final.
The Sunday afternoon final is a showdown of streaks: Sinner rides that 26-match winning streak, while Alcaraz has won three in a row against the Italian Davis Cup hero, including a mesmerizing five-set win in the 2024 Roland Garros semifinals.
View this post on Instagram
Earlier, Alcaraz denied the prospect of an all-Italian final deconstructing Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6(4) in a rematch of last month’s Monte-Carlo final which the Spaniard won.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Alcaraz improved to 26-2 on red clay since last May.
It is the 25th Tour-level final for Alcaraz, who carries an ATP-best 29-5 record on the season into the Sinner showdown.
After completing his three-month suspension, Sinner’s Rome matches have been must-see TV—drawing Alcaraz’s attention too.
“He's playing great. I've been watching his matches,” Alcaraz said of Sinner. “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 moments, as well. But I play him in the final would be even more challenging playing against him at home with the people behind him supporting him. It's going to be a really difficult challenge…
“I have to be ready to put my best tennis and my best tennis mental strength if I want to deal with that match in the right way.”
After barely putting a foot wrong in his crushing conquest of Casper Ruud yesterday, Sinner was spellbound by Paul’s variety and red-lining drives for one set today.
Four games into this semifinal, Paul pounded a deep drive that seemed to hit a divot, taking a funky bounce and causing Sinner to swing and miss. Two points later, Paul read the T serve and snapped a snazzy forehand return winner down the line for a 4-0 double break lead.
Playing cleaner tennis, Paul plowed through the fifth game confirming the break for 5-0 after 21 minutes.
After 25 minutes of play, the top seed finally got on the scoreboard to deny the bagel a night after he burst through eight games in a row in a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Madrid champion Casper Ruud.
A free-flowing Paul completely muted Italian fans serving 81 percent and winning 16 of 21 points played on his serve.
Paul beat Sinner in backhand crosscourt exchanges, consistently kept the ball low and out of the lanky Italian’s strike zone and hit some crackling forehand drives on the run taking the 28-minute opener.
Hovering around the baseline, Paul showed his fast first step and was cutting off angles in the opening set. Using the American’s speed against him, Sinner banged a backhand down the line converting his second break point for his first break and a 2-0 second-set lead.
Facing double break point in the next game, the Sinner slashed successive aces out wide bursting back to back up the break for 3-0.
A surging Sinner rallied from 40-0 down on Paul’s serve to score his second straight break for 4-0.
Throughout the second set, Sinner commanded the center of the court and was sharp changing direction down the line.
Stepping in during a 21-shot pulsating rally, Sinner smoked a backhand strike down the line breaking and baking his second bagel set in the last two days to force a decider after 58 minutes.
Pumping his third ace, Sinner held to start the final set with his seventh straight game.
Though the 11th seed held a game point to stop his slide, Paul could not find a first serve when he needed one badly. Paul slapped a double fault off the tape ceding the break and a 2-0 lead to the top seed.
A high-flying Sinner soared through a strong hold for his ninth consecutive game and a 3-0 lead.
Paul recovered from love-15 down, reeling off four points in a row to stop the bleeding and hold in the fourth game. A revitalized Paul picked on the Sinner forehand drawing errors to break back in the fifth game.
Though Sinner was clutching at his hamstring at that point, he turned trouble into a speed bump. Sinner smacked a running backhand strike down the line then drew a netted backhand to break again for 4-2.
Overall, Sinner converted five of 10 break points today.
Two-time Rome semifinalist Paul saved a pair of match points to hold for 3-5 and shift pressure back on Sinner’s shoulders.
The world No. 1 did not blink at closing time wrapping up the semifinal win in one hour, 42-minutes as the Foro Italico faithful chanted “Sinner! Sinner! Sinner!” in celebration.
Expect the chanting to hit high volume when Sinner faces Alcaraz on Sunday.