Jannik Sinner survived a major scare from Tommy Paul as he booked his place in the Italian Open final on Friday.

The world number one will now face Carlos Alcaraz in the showpiece match after he rallied to a 1-6 6-0 6-3 victory in one hour and 44 minutes.

Just 24 hours after storming to victory over Casper Ruud, Sinner looked out of sync in the opening set, with Paul racing into a 5-0 lead.

Though Sinner pulled a game back, Paul looked in full control after taking the first set, though the tide would quickly change in the second.

The Italian cut down his errors and won all six games to force a decider, successfully defending two break points, before drawing level by converting a second set-point attempt.

He stretched his winning streak to nine games in the third set, though Paul responded brilliantly, pegging him back to 3-2 with a vital break.

Sinner got a break of his own in the following game but failed to convert his first two match points before finally booking his place in a seventh ATP Masters 1000 final by serving out the match.

"If I want to win Sunday, I need to play my best tennis for sure," Sinner said.

"Carlos played some incredible tennis [on Friday], so let's see what is coming. From my side, it is incredible to be in the final."

ROME. FINAL. JANNIK. 

Sinner makes history in front of his home crowd#IBI25 | @atptour pic.twitter.com/riYiESmFm3

— Internazionali BNL d'Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 16, 2025

Data Debrief: Sinner's streak continues

Sinner notched a 26th consecutive win in style on Friday and is just one more victory away from becoming just the second Italian men's singles champion in Rome after Adriano Panatta in 1976. 

He is also the first player to reach the final in seven consecutive tournament appearances (between Cincinnati 2024 and Rome 2025) since Andy Murray in 2016 and the youngest since Ivan Lendl in 1982.

During that run, he has triumphed six times, only losing in Beijing last October, a defeat which came at the hands of Alcaraz.

The combined age of 45 years and 275 days between Sinner and Alcaraz is the youngest in a men's singles final at the Italian Open since 2009 (Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal).