Red-hot Jannik Sinner will face Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in a showdown of young stars after they won their respective semifinal matches Friday in Rome.
After Spanish No. 3 seed Alcaraz dispatched Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4), World No. 1 Sinner rebounded from a first-set defeat to eliminate American No. 11 seed Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Sinner, 23, will try to become the first Italian man to win the national open since Adriano Panatta in 1976. Before this year, Sinner had never made it past the quarterfinals in Rome.
Sinner’s 26th straight match win dating back to last year comes after a three-month doping suspension.
Paul raced out to a 5-0 lead over Sinner en route to the first-set victory. Sinner had just two winners against 13 unforced errors in that set, while Paul went 16-for-21 on his serves.
The match flipped on its head after that. Sinner broke Paul’s serve in the second game of the second set, winning his second break point, and rolled through the rest of the set. He won the first three games of the third set to boot.
“I just tried to stay there mentally,” Sinner said. “Today the conditions were different. It was much colder, heavier. I struggled with that a little bit and he broke me straight away.
“I tried to stay there, mentally what might work better. I stayed there in the first set. Winning the one game was very important. Tennis can change quickly.”
Sinner also revealed that a blister on his foot was limiting his movement in some cases.
“I have to take care of this blister, but there is no excuses,” he said. “With the adrenaline, there will be a lot of energy and for Sunday I am 100 percent not concerned.”
Though it went the distance, Sinner and Paul’s topsy-turvy match lasted less time (one hour, 43 minutes) than Alcaraz’s two-set victory over Musetti (two hours, three minutes).
Alcaraz, 22, was helped by Musetti’s 44 unforced errors to just nine total winners. The Spaniard saved 5 of 8 break points and won nearly half of his points on return (45 of 93), making Musetti’s serve barely a threat.
“Today was a really difficult day with the conditions, the wind was tough to play with,” Alcaraz said. “It wasn’t about playing brilliant, spectacular tennis. It was about playing smart tennis, playing solid, going to the point when you can, and waiting for the chance to play aggressively. I think I did that pretty well, I stayed strong mentally when things didn’t go to my side.”
Alcaraz is back after missing the Madrid Open and the ATP Masters 1000 event in his native Spain due to an adductor injury. Before that, he won the title at Monte-Carlo.
Both Sinner and Alcaraz will compete in their 25th tour-level finals on Sunday. Sinner has yet to win a Masters 1000 title on clay.
–Field Level Media
