Four matches into his comeback at the Italian Open, the level displayed by Jannik Sinner had only underscored his status as the best tennis player in the world. He had marched past every challenge in his path, reaching the semi-finals without dropping a set.
Consistent excellence in professional tennis, however, also means finding solutions when things aren’t going well. Sinner handled his first real challenge in Rome spectacularly well, recovering from heavily losing the first set to smother Tommy Paul of the United States 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. “These kind of matches I need,” said Sinner. “I’m happy how we handled this kind of situation, especially going on court and not feeling great.”
