What Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were spotted doing in training before the Italian Open final as fitness update issued

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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will face off in the final of the Italian Open, marking their first clash of 2025.

Sinner and Alcaraz will meet for the 11th time in their careers, with the head-to-head currently 6-4 in favour of the Spaniard.

Their last match came in October at the China Open, where Alcaraz emerged victorious to hold the trophy aloft in Beijing.

Since then, Sinner has been on a 26-match winning streak, having stayed flawless throughout the Shanghai Masters, the ATP Finals, the Australian Open, and the Italian Open.

With Alcaraz poised to hand the world number one his first loss in over seven months, the two have been preparing on Saturday at Foro Italico, where former British tennis players Tim Henman and Laura Robson have kept a close eye on them.

Tim Henman says there wasn’t a massive amount of movement from Jannik Sinner in training

After watching his practice session, Henman said of the Italian: “Sinner was looking good. I was really interested to see the way he was working on so many different aspects of his game with his coaches.”

“They were hitting high, heavy top spin shots into the backhand side. He was moving well, not a massive amount of movement.”

“And Simone was hitting really heavy, slices into his backhand side. Then they worked on the drop shot, then at the net volleying, so he was working at everything.”

Sinner looked to be in discomfort in his semi-final with Tommy Paul, but revealed after the match it was a blister on his feet causing the pain, stating he wasn’t worried about it heading into the final.

Laura Robson says Carlos Alcaraz is going to struggle with the Italian crowd in Rome

Following Alcaraz’s training session, Robson said: “I saw a lot of good things. He is timing the ball as sweetly as ever and just always looks so relaxed on the practice court.”

“We saw him in the players’ lounge after as well, and he was playing games with his team.”

“He’s so used to these big occasions and he is a big match player, possibly more than anyone else on the tour.”

“He loves to get the crowd on his side. I think he might struggle with that tomorrow but in general he is probably trying to put together his best match.”

The Spaniard is in pursuit of his third title of the season, having triumphed at the Rotterdam Open and the Monte-Carlo Masters.