Sinner completes Golden Masters career by winning Italian Open | tennis

Sinner, the first Italian to win the title in 50 years, enters the French Open as the favorite with Alcaraz injured.

Jannik Sinner has completed the coveted Tennis Golden Masters, becoming only the second player after Novak Djokovic to win all nine editions of the Masters 1000, the biggest tournament outside the Grand Slams.

Top-ranked Sinner beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Italian Open on Sunday, becoming the first Italian to win the tournament since Adriano Panata in 1976.

“There is no better place to complete this set.” After winning the title and achieving the feat on the red clay of the Foro Italico, Sinner said his half-century wait was finally over in front of his jubilant home fans.

“For Italians, this is one of the most special places to play tennis. It means a lot to me to win at least once in my career.”

Djokovic finished his career at age 31 in Cincinnati in 2018 and has won at least twice in each event since. Sinner is 24 years old and with his only real rival, Carlos Alcaraz, currently out with a right wrist injury, it seems like no one can beat him.

“Welcome to the exclusive Club Jannik,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram.

The Sinners extended their winning streak to 29 games. He has not lost since losing to Jakub Mencic in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open on February 19. And he’s 17-0 on clay this year heading into the French Open, which begins Sunday.

Sinner celebrated with his usual cool-headedness, smiling widely when he landed an inside-out forehand on the line for his first championship point, putting his hands above his head in relief. He then waved to the crowd, including Panata, who was sitting in the front row.

“Adriano, after 50 years we have brought back a very important trophy.” Sinner spoke to Panata, 75, who attended the trophy ceremony.

Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam that Sinner has not won. He holds the Australian Open title twice and has won Wimbledon and the US Open once each.

Sinner’s victory took place in the presence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella. This was after losing to Alcaraz in the final in Rome last year in his first tournament since serving a three-month doping ban. The defeat came a day after Jasmine Paolini in 2025 became the first Italian woman to win the Rome singles title in 40 years. She also won the doubles trophy with partner Sara Errani.

Many of Sinner’s fans were dressed in orange, his theme color, to match his curly hair, and the crowd of 10,500 at Campo Centrale created a football-style atmosphere with chants and loud cheers for the player who has become Italy’s most popular player.

After a few key points, the crowd cheered, chanting “Ole, ole, ole, ole, thinner, thinner.” Then there was more chanting during the trophy presentation.

Angelo Binaggi, president of the Italian Tennis Federation, suggested that even if Rome had a 25,000-seat center court, which is larger than the world’s largest tennis stadium, the US Open Arthur Ashe Stadium, it would be full.

No signs of fatigue

Sinner overcame fatigue to beat Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals in a match that took two days due to rain. But there was no sign of fatigue against No. 25 Ruud, who has been one of the best clay court players on the circuit for years.

Ruud has reached two finals at Roland Garros, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Novak Djokovic in 2023. But the Norwegian squandered an early break and a 2-0 advantage early in the first set against Sinner. Sinner fought back quickly and then broke again near the end of the set with the help of three key drop shots. Two of them were so well placed that Ruud couldn’t even run.

A big backhand winner gave Sinner another break in the opener of the second set.

Sinner improved to 5-0 against Ruud.

“It’s hard to describe in words what we’re doing this year,” Ruud told Sinner at the trophy ceremony. “It’s truly an honor to watch you play…congratulations on making history.”

A day to remember in Italy

It was an even more special day for the hosts after Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori became the first Italian duo to win the men’s doubles title in Rome since 1960.

Bolelli and Vavassori beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 10-3.

Both the singles and doubles finals drew packed spectators on large screens on the statue-lined Pietrangeli court next to Campo Centrale.

Elina Svitolina defeated Coco Gauff in the women’s singles title match on Saturday.