Jannik Sinner And Jasmine Paolini Ready To Crown Golden Age Of Italian Tennis In Rome

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. Sinner can end a near five-decade wait for an Italian winner of the men's tournament in Rome, with Adriano Panatta way back in 1976 the last man to claim the title for a home player. The world number one takes on rival Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster final for tennis fans who have watched Sinner return from his three-month doping ban for testing positive twice in March last year for traces of clostebol, a contamination doping authorities accept was accidental.

The 23-year-old was the first Italian to win a Grand Slam tournament since Panatta, again since 1976, when he won the Australian Open in January 2024. 

He then became the first of his compatriots to claim top spot in the world rankings in June, and then the first to win the year-ending ATP Finals, claiming glory in Turin.

But Sinner, already a winner of 19 titles including three Grand Slams, is not alone at the top of the game as attested by Italy winning both the Davis Cup and, led by Wimbledon and Roland Garros finalist Paolini, the Billie Jean King Cup in 2024. 

Italian men have won 31 ATP titles since the start of 2016, compared to just eight in the previous decade.

Lorenzo Musetti made his debut in the top 10 of the world rankings this week after reaching the Monte Carlo final last month and going deep in other tournaments, including a run to the semi-finals in Rome.

Nine Italian, including Luciano Darderi and Flavio Cobolli -- winners in Marrakech and Bucharest in the same week in March -- are in the men's top 100. Only the USA and France have more with 10 each.