The Italian Open delivered in more ways than one

Leave it to the Italians to thoroughly entertain tennis fans for the past two weeks at the Italian Open. There was plenty of intrigue about the Italian players who played and those who did not.

Let's start with the champions. At the beginning of this tournament, it was looking like the "Italian-less" Open. Players were dropping out right and left, most notably 2024 Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner.

However, the Italian women earned the host country's bragging rights. Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani won the Italian Open women's doubles final with a spectacular match against Coco Gauff and Erin Routcliffe. Errani was part of the last duo to win the Italian Open final 12 years ago with Roberta Vinci. It was an emotional win for Paolini and Errani and a confidence builder leading into the Paris Olympics.

While Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani were grinding it out on the court, Jannik Sinner and Camila Giorgi's personal lives added to the Italian Open intrigue.

Jannik Sinner is arguably Italy's favorite son so it was a big blow that he could not play the home tournament due to a hip injury. Without his tennis to focus on, there became a profound interest in his personal life. And the rumors continue to swirl.

If unofficial internet sources are correct, Sinner is dating Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya. This information is derived from a fan photo of Sinner which shows his phone screen. When the photo was taken, Sinner was receiving a phone call from someone named "Anna."

There are many people named Anna in the world so this could be a coincidence that he is getting a call from Kalinskaya as the rumors are heating up. We do know that Kalinskaya has dated a tennis player (Nick Kyrgios) before and that Sinner is single after getting out of a long-term relationship.

Sinner's personal life will continue to be the source of scrutiny in the coming months when he and Kalinskaya are playing at the same tournament so these rumors have a good chance of being substantiated or debunked.

In the case of the other Italian player in the headlines, Camila Giorgi, no one knows what to believe. Giorgi quietly retired from the game. Since then, there have been tales of tax evasion and other financial issues that perhaps forced Giorgi to make that quick decision. As if that is not bad enough, now an owner of a property that Giorgi and her family rented accuses them of vacating the property with unpaid rent and stealing furniture from it. We may never know the truth behind Giorgi's swift and silent retirement decision.

The Italians know how to charm tennis fans with pasta, pizza, wine, gelato, and drama both on the court and off the court. For these reasons, we cannot wait until next year.

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