Rome champ not resting on his laurels

He also reached the final in Barcelona.

Finishing runner-up is still a hugely positive result for Sinner in his first tournament following his three-month ban for testing positive twice in March last year for traces of clostebol, which doping authorities accepted was the result of accidental contamination.

Sinner let two set points slip in game 12 of the first set, and that proved to be the turning point of the match, with Alcaraz rattling off the first three points of the tie-break before taking the lead.

Alcaraz then moved through the gears to win the first five games of the second set, as he powered to his 19th career title — drawing level with Sinner.

Sinner's encouraging return, though, sets him up for another deep run at Roland Garros, despite his relative lack of match practice, having not played since retaining his Australian Open crown in January before arriving in Rome.

"Talking (in) general, (I'm) very happy about this tournament. It gives me, hopefully, confidence to play some good tennis in Paris," said Sinner.

"After three months, coming here and getting this result means a lot to me.

"For sure, there are some things, like we saw today, that I have to improve if I want to do well in Paris. I am closer than expected, in a way, with everything."

AFP