CNN
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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…
