India, May 18 -- Over the past couple of weeks in Rome, all the spotlight was well and truly on one man. Of his sold-out pre-tournament training session; of his meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican; of his dismantling a top 10 opponent as if it were child's play.

Italian world No.1 Jannik Sinner, returning to tennis after a pause, was at the front and centre of every conversation in his home tournament. There was another player making a comeback, though. Not from a three-month doping suspension, but from a month-long injury-enforced time off.

Flying under the radar on his comeback trail, Carlos Alcaraz pipped Sinner to the finish line of the Rome Masters after emerging a 7-6(6), 6-2 winner in the final on Sunday. The riveting rivalr...