The Weekly Recap: Pro Tennis Around the Globe

What happened this week at the Rome Masters? Did our home-state Floridians win big? While we can't cover every match, here are some key highlights from the men's and women's draws. 

Gauff Falls Short to Paolini and a Rowdy Rome Crowd

During the spring clay court swing on the WTA Tour, there are two tournaments that stand out before Roland Garros due to their size and prestigiousness. These of course are the Madrid and Rome 1000-level events, and taking a trophy home from one of these locations means that you're certainly a favorite for the upcoming slam. Winning both means you are the favorite in Paris. Over the past few weeks, Delray Beach native Coco Gauff has certainly put her name near the top of the list of contenders, but she did so in a brutal fashion. During her stint in Europe, Gauff reached both finals but just missed out on the trophy, falling to #1 Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid and home favorite Jasmine Paolini in Rome. And while this may be disheartening for the American as the days count down to Roland Garros, reaching both finals is a difficult challenge in its own and there are plenty of positives to take away from these past four weeks as we examine other players who made a splash at the Foro Italico and could do so again at the year's second grand slam. 

Above: Jasmine Paolini. Photo credit: Nuță Lucian from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Before the final, Gauff took home five very solid victories that deserve merit. Statistically, her easiest task actually turned out to be a tough one for Coco, and that was in the first round against teenager Victoria Mboko. Mboko came out firing, and won the first set 6-3 before Gauff was able to set the wheels on the track and win the next two, 6-2, 6-1, thus avoiding a deadly upset. Her next challenge was 32nd seeded Magda Linette, who she handled with ease 7-5, 6-3. She had an even better time this past Monday against Emma Radacanu---who couldn't deliver any kind of performance against the American. Gauff emerged victorious, 6-1, 6-2. But things started to get more difficult as the draw narrowed, and facing Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals was surely an uncomfortable matchup for the 21-year-old. Despite the pressure surrounding Gauff to knock out her younger rival, she stayed calm and was able to rack up a good win 6-4, 7-6, staying comfortable during the difficult moments, never letting Andreeva sneak past her and turn the match in a new direction. And after an even closer semi-final against Qinwen Zheng, the Floridian was final bound. But in her final match, it wasn't just Paolini she needed to face off against. It was the Italian crowd as well. 

Similar to Coco, Paolini has also had a nice few weeks at the Foro Italico. She claimed some key victories against Ons Jabeur, Jelena Ostapenko, Diana Shnaider, and another American, Peyton Stearns, in the semi-finals. But she knew Gauff was hungry for the victory after just falling short in Madrid, and to be the first Italian woman victorious at home in 40 years meant that she would need to play her A-game. And that she did. The sixth seed was victorious over Gauff in two comfortable sets, 6-4, 6-2. She utilized her baseline game and extended the rallies, making it impossible for Gauff to be aggressive and win points in a timely manner. She also took advantage of Gauff's serve, which wasn't on point. With this victory, Paolini is surely a favorite going into Roland Garros later this month. 

Alcaraz Stops a Double Italian Victory 

For the Italian home fans, these past few weeks must have been extremely exciting as home favorites have excelled in both the men's and women's draws, and after Jasmine Paolini won the tournament on Saturday, Jannik Sinner had a chance to make it a perfect year at the Foro Italico the following day. Since returning from a controversial 3-month ban, Sinner's ability to compete on the highest stage was in question when the action started up a few weeks ago. But match by match, he got more and more comfortable and confident in his level, and following a good challenge against American Tommy Paul in the semi-finals, there were certainly plenty of people who had their money on the #1 to lift the trophy. But there was somebody Sinner hadn't conquered yet, and that somebody seems to be playing on his own level, ahead of the rest of the field. That person is of course Carlos Alcaraz, and despite the Sinner-favored crowd, he took on the task and did a near-perfect job executing it. 

Above: Carlos Alcaraz. Photo credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour.

Since we last checked in on Alcaraz's progress last weekend, he's only gotten better on Rome's clay and took out a few dangerous top seeds to advance to the final. In the final eight, he faced off against Indian Wells champion Jack Draper, who despite finding success lately hadn't played his best up to this point. And throughout most of the match, these two matched their levels pretty evenly, until Alcaraz was able to just excel in the crucial moments to book his semi-final spot, 6-4, 6-4. A similar pattern emerged in his semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti, which he on 6-3, 7-6. And in the final against Sinner, he knew exactly what to do. 

As Sinner has had little experience in professional competition recently, his body may not be fully accustomed to the demands of playing a grueling match against an equally-leveled rival like Alcaraz. And using his heavy forehand and near-perfect placement, Alcaraz was able to draw Sinner from side to side, moving him around until the perfect opportunity emerged to finish the point. Sinner couldn't use his powerful baseline game against Alcaraz's heavy forehand spin, and the slower clay court only made it harder for the faster-paced Italian. But Sinner put up a good fight in the first set, leveling the match at 6-6 for a first set tiebreak. Perhaps the 3rd seed was just a little more comfortable in the tightest moments, because he was able to just escape 7-5 in the breaker to clinch the first set. That's where Sinner gave out. 

Alcaraz didn't let off any steam in the second, and came back even stronger than when he initially walked onto Campo Centrale. He pushed Sinner around and mastered the geometry of the court, sliding into nasty angles and hitting clean drop shots to keep the Italian guessing. And this worked perfectly. There was nothing Sinner could do to match him. And the Spaniard ended up taking the second, 6-1 in complete domination. With this win, Alcaraz is certainly favored above Sinner as the days count down to the year's second grand slam. 

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Written by Florida Tennis contributor Will Turvey. Photo credit (top): Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour.