Alcaraz and Sinner renew rivalry - Second Serve

There are a number of factors which turn an exciting rivalry into an epic, enduring duel that transcends the sport.

The core talent. The blend of personalities. The gripping encounters on the biggest stages.

The tussle between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz - ranked one and two in the men's game - has all those components.

It also has arguably the most important ingredient: each player being pushed to a greater height by the other.

Their rivalry resumed in the final of the Italian Open, marking a fitting end to the men's singles at a tournament where Sinner returned from a three-month ban for failing two doping tests.

Spain's Alcaraz, benefitting from more matches in the tank, ruined the perfect homecoming for Italy's Sinner to record his seventh victory in their 11 meetings.

Sinner has been the ATP's dominant player for the past 18 months, winning 85 of his 92 matches and claiming nine titles.

But Alcaraz is the one dominating their head-to-head record.

Alcaraz understands he has to go to a different place to get the better of Sinner, who was on a 26-match winning streak going into the Rome final.

Alcaraz, a gifted and sometimes flashy shot-maker, can sometimes lose focus or discipline on court.

But there was none of that in a disciplined performance against Sinner.

"If I don't play at my best it's going to be impossible to beat him," Alcaraz said afterwards.

"That's why I'm more focused when I'm playing against him, or I feel a little bit different when I'm going to face him."

It was a final many in the sport wanted, one everybody was excited about.

And it was another tantalising reminder of how the Alcaraz and Sinner rivalry - which the ATP Tour has long pinned its hopes on filling the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic void - could be a blockbuster for years to come.

"I'm not going to say I'm feeling like when Rafa and Roger are playing," Alcaraz added.

"But I'm feeling like it is a different energy when we are facing each other than other players."

Roll on Roland Garros. The smart money would go on the top two seeds meeting again in the French Open men's final.

At the start of the clay-court swing we discussed how Iga Swiatek had a mountain of ranking points to defend - and it could not have gone much worse for the four-time French Open champion.

Swiatek has slipped to fifth in the WTA rankings and will be seeded outside of the top four at Roland Garros.

The means she could face any of the top four seeds - Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula or Jasmine Paolini - as early as the quarter-finals.

In the ATP rankings, Alcaraz made the most significant move, while Italy's Lorenzo Musetti - who lost to the Spaniard in the semi-finals - climbed another place into a new career-high of eighth.

Czech powerhouse Jakub Mensik - the highest ranked teenager in the top 100 - has cracked the top 20 for the first time after reaching the Rome last 16.

Just call her 'Clay-tie'.

Katie Boulter gave herself a new nickname after claiming a WTA 125 title on clay.

Clay is a surface where the 28-year-old still has very limited experience and has struggled to adapt her aggressive baseline game at the top level.

Winning the Paris tournament on the tier below the main WTA Tour will boost Boulter's confidence before the French Open, where she is still to win a main-draw match.

Victory means Boulter has moved up to 38th in the rankings, putting a little more light between the British number one and her nearest rivals Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal.

Raducanu has climbed to 43rd after her run to the Rome last 16, where Gauff showed the gulf that remains between the Briton and the world's leading players.

On the men's side, Jack Draper demonstrated again how he is becoming a force on clay by reaching the quarter-finals in the Italian capital.

There was also strong British involvement in the latter stages of the men's doubles.

All-British pair Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, along with Australian Open champion Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara, were beaten in their respective semi-finals.

Bonjour Paris! Most of the leading players will take the week off from competition and head to Roland Garros before the main draw begins on Sunday.

But those who feel they need a bit more match practice have options to play tournaments.

Novak Djokovic has taken a wildcard for the ATP 250 event in Geneva, Alexander Zverev has headed to the ATP 500 in Hamburg, while Jessica Pegula and Raducanu are in the WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg.

Second Serve will take a break over the French Open before returning on Monday, 9 June.

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