ROMA – Janic Thinner has been on his way to the final of his first tournament after a three-month ban on doping.
And Carlos Alcaraz is waiting for him in the Italian open title match.
The top-ranked sinner gathered past No. 12 Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the semi-finals on Friday as he tried to become the first Italian man to lift the Roman trophy since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Previously, Alcaraz defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) to advance to his first Roman final.
Sunday’s final marks the first meeting of Thinner and Alcaraz since October when Alcaraz won the Chinese Open Final with a three-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz held a 6-4 edge in a career meeting with Thinner, earning a three-game winning streak against his biggest rival.
However, the sinner has not lost since his defeat to Alkaraz in Beijing, and has been on a 26-match winning streak. He has played his first tournament since winning his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
“He’s playing great. I’ve seen him play,” Alcaraz said. “He’s really high right now. Every time I play him, it’s always a fight, it’s always really, really hard. I enjoy (these) moments.”
The Criminal lifted his level to almost perfect with Casperude’s defeat in Thursday’s quarter-finals. Against Paul, Thinner made an unforced error in the first set, and his American opponent took a shot after a shot on the line. However, the sinner quickly looked back at the match.
Thinner said that cooler and heavier conditions make it more challenging and that breaking in his first service game is a “punch in my face”.
“But I tried to stay there mentally and understand what would make it a little better,” Thinner said. “Tennis could change soon.”
Towards the end of the match, the sinner seemed to occasionally frown and grab his thighs.
“Since the third round, I have a small blister under my feet and I can’t move at the moments that work out that well,” he said. “I’m not worried about my feet. It’s a bit tight.
“There’s no excuse. There’s a lot of energy on Sundays on adrenaline. I’m not worried.”
Sinner was the first Italian man in the Rome final as Panatta lost the 1978 title match to Bjorn Borg, and Alcaraz pointed out that playing a sinner before the crowds of his house would be “even more challenging.”
Thinner fans are fully joining forces for all his matches, many of them wearing orange wigs and hats – his theme colours. One fan held the sign Aloft during the semi-finals, translated from Italian to “Sinner, we missed you.”
In February, the sinner agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which raised the question, as the three-month suspension prevented him from missing a Grand Slam and returning to the home tournament.
Rome is the last big warm-up before the French opening begins on May 25th.
Alcaraz, who was in third place, retreated from the Madrid Tournament due to a leg problem in his upper right foot, and also suffered a left leg injury. In Rome, he wears a long black brace that covers the top of his right leg, extending just below his knees.
Musetti first took off Alcaraz at Monte Carlo Final, but Alcaraz defeated the Italian serve in the first game of the rematch to silence the promsetti crowd at Campo Centrale. Musetti didn’t help himself with an unforced error and started pushing Alcaraz only at the end of the set.
Musetti docked Misbehavior’s point later in the second set after receiving a warning earlier for breaking the racket.
On a windy day in Italicofolo, Alcaraz said he needed “smart tennis” rather than playing “brilliant.”
“I think I did it pretty well because I’m waiting for your chance to play offensively,” Alcaraz said. “I stayed mentally strong when things didn’t go by my side.”
Alcaraz is performing at the Italian Open for the second time. In his Rome debut last year, he lost to 135th place Hungarian qualifier Fabian Malossan in his third round.
Paulini and partner Sara Ellani also made it to the women’s doubles final when they beat Russian pair Mira Andreva and Diana Schneider 6-4, 6-4 as the Italians won last year’s Olympic final.
