The Italian Open crowd has had plenty of local success to celebrate over the last week-and-a-half, with Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti reaching the semifinals of the men’s draw, and Jasmine Paolini reaching the final on the women’s side.
An imperious Sinner, who returned from a three-month doping ban at the tournament, dropped just one game as he crushed No. 6 seed Caper Ruud 6-0 6-1 on Thursday.
Perhaps there has been an element of divine intervention for Sinner this week after the world No. 1 met the new pope, Leo XIV, at the Vatican on Wednesday and gifted the pontiff a tennis racket.
“I never experienced something like this,” Sinner said of the meeting. “I met important people in my young life. This was just something else.
“I didn’t know exactly really what to say. It was a very emotional thing also with my parents there. It was something I will never forget, that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, Ruud took Thursday’s defeat with good humor, saying that “it was just like playing a wall that shoots 100mph balls at you all the time.”
“It doesn’t feel so bad,” Ruud dded. “Honestly, I think it was more fun than anything, even though I lost love and one, it’s like you just look at the guy and say: ‘Wow, this is kind of next-level s**t.’
“Excuse my language. I don’t know what else to say. It was almost fun to witness at the same time.”
Ruud added it was “as near as perfect” a performance he has witnessed first-hand from a tennis player.