For the second year running, there will be home representation for Italy in the ATP Rome final, as Jannik Sinner takes on Casper Ruud for the title.<\/p>\n
Both players have played some solid clay-court tennis this tournament. Ruud has overcome four top-20 opponents along the way, while Sinner, a finalist in Rome last year and the heavy favorite for the title on Sunday, arrives on a record 33-match Masters 1000 winning streak<\/a>. As always, we will preview the clash in detail.<\/p>\n Entering the tournament for the first time in several years ranked outside the Top 20, Ruud has responded brilliantly after his draw opened up following early exits from top seeds in his half. He has dropped only one set so far, with his best performance undoubtedly coming in the semifinals against Luciano Darderi, where he conceded just two games.<\/p>\n For Sinner, on the other hand, this has been routine. Although the World No. 1 dropped a set in the semifinals against Daniil Medvedev and has looked physically troubled at times during the tournament, he has had more or less everything under control as he stands just one match away from becoming only the second player in history, joining Novak Djokovic, to complete the Golden Masters–winning every Masters 1000 event at least once.<\/p>\n Heading into the final, Sinner finds himself the overwhelming favorite, as not only has Ruud never defeated him in four attempts, but the Norwegian is yet to even win a single set. The two faced each other in Rome last year, and it was a one-sided demolition, with Sinner winning 6-0 6-1 in what remains, score-wise, arguably the Italian\u2019s most dominant clay-court performance.<\/p>\n While Ruud has occasionally made portions of their matches somewhat competitive, Sinner\u2019s dominance in this matchup has been a consistent theme, dropping just five games across their last five sets played. The biggest reason is simple: Sinner is better in virtually every area of tennis than Ruud, who often finds himself rushed and under pressure in this matchup.<\/p>\n Ruud\u2019s game is built around his heavy forehand and baseline consistency. But not only does Sinner possess a more powerful forehand, but he is also arguably the best baseliner in tennis right now, effectively removing Ruud\u2019s biggest avenue for success. Alongside that, Sinner owns the superior serve and return game, as well as arguably the best backhand in tennis–strengths that directly target Ruud\u2019s weaker backhand wing. All of these advantages for the Italian have made this matchup one of the most one-sided ones in recent years.<\/p>\n So, in a matchup where he seemingly holds no clear advantage, what can Ruud do? Considering his usual game plan has failed against Sinner so far, going ultra-aggressive and accepting more errors in an attempt to take the racket out of Sinner\u2019s hands may be one approach. But his biggest opportunity could lie in extending rallies and turning the match physical.<\/p>\n The only vulnerability Sinner<\/a> has shown this clay season has been cramps and physical issues in Rome, with the mileage and fatigue from playing virtually every possible match over recent months perhaps finally taking a toll. If he falters physically, Ruud has the clay-court pedigree to potentially make this interesting with his heavy forehand playing style.<\/p>\n But regardless of the result, history is set to be made on Sunday. A title for either player would carry major significance, with the final major tune-up before the French Open<\/a> on the line. Sinner could complete the Golden Masters and continue one of the most dominant stretches tennis has seen in years<\/a>, while Ruud has the chance to claim arguably the biggest win of his career.<\/p>\n Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the second year running, there will be home representation for Italy in the ATP Rome final, as Jannik Sinner takes on Casper Ruud for the title. Both players have played some solid clay-court tennis this tournament. Ruud has overcome four top-20 opponents along the way, while Sinner, a finalist in Rome last year and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5608,"featured_media":84734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,9],"tags":[12445,811,498,5862,17067,22],"class_list":["post-104839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-featured","category-news","tag-atp-rome-final","tag-casper-ruud","tag-daniil-medvedev","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-luciano-darderi","tag-novak-djokovic"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104839"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104848,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104839\/revisions\/104848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}ATP Rome Final Preview: Jannik Sinner vs Casper Ruud<\/h2>\n
Road to the Final<\/h3>\n
A One-Sided Rivalry<\/h3>\n
What Can Casper Ruud Do Differently?<\/h3>\n