Carlos Alcaraz edged the battle between world number one and three as the Spaniard defeated Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the Italian Open final on Sunday, Afrosport reports.
Alcaraz won his maiden Italian Open title, claiming a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win over Sinner to end the Italian’s 26-match winning streak with a dominant display in Rome.
Sinner, who was appearing in his first tournament since a three-month ban for doping, was looking to become the first Italian to win the men’s singles title at the tournament since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Alcaraz, however, proved too strong for the home favourite, rushing to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak in a tightly contested first set, which he eventually won 7-5.
The second set was not much of a contest, as the Spaniard raced to a 5-0 lead before closing out the tie in 33 minutes to continue his dominance over Sinner, who he has now beaten four straight times.
VENI, VIDI, VICI
@carlosalcaraz snaps Sinner’s 26-match winning streak, 7-6(5) 6-1 to capture his first title in Rome!@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI25 pic.twitter.com/xlbVCAcN3x
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 18, 2025
“I’m just really happy to get my first Rome [title], hopefully it’s not going to be the last one,” said Alcaraz. “The first thing I want to say is that I’m just really happy to see Jannik back at this amazing level.
“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him coming back after three months and making the final is something insane, so I have to congratulate him.
“[I am] Just proud about myself, the way that I approached the match mentally. Tactically think I did it pretty well from the first to the last point,” Alcaraz added. “I maintained my level during the whole match.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion will overtake Alexander Zverev for the second spot in the ATP rankings on Monday, 19 May, having played in his third final in three clay court events this season. He won the Monte Carlo Masters and was beaten in the Barcelona Open final before pulling out of the Madrid Open because of injury.
Following his victories at the Madrid Open in 2022 and 2023, the Spaniard became the fifth man to win all three Masters 1000 clay events after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten, and Marcelo Rios.
Alcaraz also became the first man since Rafael Nadal to win multiple clay ATP Masters 1000 titles in a season and will be looking to defend his title at the French Open, which begins on 25 May at Roland Garros.
