ROME: Jannik Sinner won the Italian Open on Sunday, beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to claim a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title and strengthen his position as the leading contender for Roland Garros.
The world number one became the first Italian men’s champion in Rome since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago. The victory also completed Sinner’s “Golden Masters,” making him only the second man after Novak Djokovic to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
Sinner’s latest title extended his overall winning run to 29 matches and his Masters 1000 winning streak to 34 matches. He will now turn his focus to the French Open, where he is seeking his first Roland Garros title after losing last year’s final to Carlos Alcaraz despite holding three championship points.
“I need to keep myself in form because there’s my most important tournament of the year coming up,” Sinner told reporters.
The Italian said he wanted to manage expectations before Paris and take a short break before returning to training.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself because the pressure comes anyway,” he said. “The most important thing to do right now is take a break and do the right things.”
Sinner controls final against Ruud
Ruud, one of the most consistent clay-court players on the ATP Tour since 2020, made a strong start by winning the first two games of the match.
Sinner responded quickly, breaking back and taking control of the opening set. The Italian then broke Ruud early in the second set and maintained his advantage to close out the final in straight sets.
Ruud, who had never taken a set from Sinner in their previous meetings, competed strongly but was unable to stop the Italian’s run.
“I don’t see him getting any worse, unfortunately,” Ruud said after the match. “You just have to think that you have to be better and better because he’s also going to get better and better.”
Italian tennis enjoys strong day in Rome
Sinner’s win capped a successful day for Italian tennis at the Foro Italico.
Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori won the men’s doubles title, defeating second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 10-3.
Sinner will enter Roland Garros as one of the strongest title contenders, with Alcaraz out of action and the Italian in the best winning run of his career.
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