Sinner & Alcaraz set up huge Italian Open final

World number one Jannik Sinner set up a blockbuster Italian Open final against Carlos Alcaraz by fighting back to beat American Tommy Paul.

Playing on home clay in his first tournament since a three-month doping ban, Sinner overcame an off-key start before overcoming the 11th seed 1-6 6-0 6-3.

In front of a packed and partisan centre court in Rome, the 23-year-old stretched his unbeaten run to 26 matches and moved one win away from being the first Italian men's singles winner at the tournament since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

In a topsy-turvy match, Paul raced to a 5-0 lead en route to a stunning first-set success, during which Sinner made 13 unforced errors and just two winners.

But the match flipped from the start of the second set as the home favourite steamrollered past Paul to win nine successive games, and the American could not recover.

Earlier on Friday, Alcaraz dashed home hopes of an all-Italian final by beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz looks in good shape for the French Open later this month.

The reigning Roland Garros champion reached a fourth final of the season by winning in straight sets in just over two hours.

For Musetti, it was a fifth straight defeat to the Spaniard, including a loss when they met on clay in the Monte Carlo final last month.

The 23-year-old Musetti gave up three breaks of serve and made 29 unforced errors in the first set, and was warned by the umpire after slamming his racquet into the clay.

The players exchanged breaks at the start of the second set and Musetti moved 4-3 ahead with some spectacular shots, but Alcaraz broke back in game eight – causing his furious opponent to smash a ball into the stands.

Alcaraz, 22, kept his cool to win the tie-break and pave the way for the final on Sunday that so many tennis fans wanted.

Source: BBC Sport