The Foro Italico (Italian Forum) has lived up to its name this past week as Jannik Sinner and Jasmine Paolini have given home fans a local hero to cheer for in both singles finals at the Italian Open.

ROME (Reuters) -World number one Jannik Sinner produced a sublime semi-final display as he fought back from a set down to beat American Tommy Paul 1-6 6-0 6-3 on Friday to set up an Italian Open final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz.

Or maybe Jannik Sinner just likes playing against Casper Ruud. Whatever it was, the top-ranked Sinner cranked up his level to near perfection at times in a 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of Ruud in the Italian Open quarterfinals — after Sinner was granted an audience with the new tennis-playing pope just down the road at the Vatican.