Sinner surges back against Paul, through to Rome final

Jannik Sinner extended his career-best winning streak to 26 matches as he came back from a set down to beat Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 and reach the Rome final.

The scoreline reflected a strange rhythm to the match, with the world No 12 taking the first set 6-1 amidst a catalogue of errors from Sinner – before the home crowd’s favourite redressed the balance with a swift 6-0 second set.

Sinner went on to a 3-0 lead in the decider, and although Paul did close the gap to 3-2, the eventual outcome was inexorable, finishing the match in just under an hour and 45 minutes.

Sinner is now into his seventh ATP Masters 1000 final, and the fourth Italian man to reach a final on clay at this level.

Sinner now faces Carlos Alcaraz for the title, which will be the third ATP Masters 1000 final between players born since the turn of the millennium, following Indian Wells (Jack Draper and Holger Rune) and Monte-Carlo (Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti) earlier this year.

It will be their third meeting in a championship match after Umag in 2022 and Beijing in 2024, and the first time two players ranked in the ATP top three have played each other in the Rome final since Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in 2021.