In the world of tennis, there is a player who has consistently demonstrated superiority over Jannik Sinner.
Carlos Alcaraz, in a display of his skill, defeated Sinner with a score of 7-6 (5), 6-1, thus securing his first title at the Italian Open this Sunday. With this victory, Alcaraz adds another important clay court title to his impressive career.
Since the beginning of last year, Alcaraz stands out as the only tennis player who has managed to defeat Sinner on multiple occasions, already accumulating four consecutive victories.
Alcaraz’s victory, against Sinner’s home crowd at the Foro Italico, ended the Italian’s 26-match winning streak, which dated back to October, when Alcaraz defeated him in the final of the China Open, in a third-set tiebreak. Currently, Alcaraz leads the head-to-head record with a score of 7-4.
This tournament marked Sinner’s return after a three-month suspension.
Alcaraz also consolidated his position as the favorite to defend his title at Roland Garros, which will begin next Sunday.
Sinner played his first tournament since winning his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
In February, Sinner agreed to a deal with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised questions, as the three-month suspension allowed him not to miss any Grand Slam and return at his home tournament.
Sinner was attempting to become the first local man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976. He was also seeking to complete a sweep of the Rome singles titles for Italy, after Jasmine Paolini won the women’s trophy on Saturday.
Paolini and her partner Sara Errani also defended their women’s doubles title on Sunday, making Paolini the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990 to win the Rome singles and doubles titles in the same year.
A large number of the 10,500 fans in the Campo Centrale wore orange, Sinner’s theme color, and chanted his name even before the match began.
However, Sinner squandered two set points on Alcaraz’s serve when leading 6-5 in the first set, and then Alcaraz took the lead in the tiebreak with two aces and held firm to secure the set before dominating in the second.
Alcaraz, four-time Grand Slam champion, will rise to number 2 in the ranking on Monday after his third final in three clay events this season. He won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up at the Barcelona Open before withdrawing from the Madrid Open due to an injury.
Having also won the Madrid Open in 2022 and 2023, Alcaraz became the fifth man to win all three clay-court Masters 1000 events, after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten and Marcelo Rios.
