Jannik Sinner breaks Novak Djokovic’s ATP Masters 1000 title record with Italian Open win
When in Rome, Jannik Sinner wins tennis matches — simply as he has been doing all over the place else of late.
With a 6-4, 6-4 win over Casper Ruud within the Italian Open last Sunday, Sinner grew to become the second participant, and the youngest, to win all 9 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, the lads’s occasions one run under the 4 Grand Slams. Sinner is 24. Novak Djokovic, the one different participant to do it, accomplished the set when he was 31.
Sinner’s overcome Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, takes the world No. 1’s win streak at ATP Masters 1000 events to 34, and his win streak in all competitions to 29. This was far nearer than their assembly in Rome 12 months in the past, when Sinner eviscerated the Norwegian 6-0, 6-1, however the final result hardly ever felt doubtful, at the same time as Ruud broke Sinner’s serve on the first try to steer 2-0 within the opening set.
“It was not perfect tennis from both of us, but I’m really, really happy. Incredible last two-and-a-half months,” Sinner mentioned in his on-court interview.
“Not every day is simple, but I’m really, really happy.”
Since 2022, when Ruud misplaced to Rafael Nadal in a one-sided French Open last after which to 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz on the US Open, his recreation has been extensively pigeonholed as missing aggressiveness, when in actuality, different gamers can merely hit the ball tougher than him. Sinner is one in every of them, and whereas Ruud’s serve and forehand — the 2 pillars of his play — did harm from time to time, his backhand is just not in the identical weight class because the Italian’s, particularly crosscourt.
Ruud was additionally reticent to take the shot down the road, as a result of he risked leaving himself uncovered towards Sinner’s forehand. Still, it was in the end really feel that led to the Norwegian dropping the opening set, with Sinner profitable three factors behind drop pictures within the ninth recreation to interrupt for 5-4. When he broke Ruud’s serve once more to open the second set, inevitability set in.
“What you’re doing this year is hard to describe in words,” Ruud mentioned to Sinner throughout the trophy ceremony.
With an inside-out forehand that nicked the sideline (and adopted a much more emphatic inside-in forehand which deserved to clinch the match), Sinner moved to 36-2 in 2026, received his sixth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title, and additional entrenched himself because the runaway favourite for the French Open, which begins May 24.
As the “Olé, olé olé olé Sinner, Sinner” chants vary across the Foro Italico, Sinner took within the acclaim after making yet one more piece of males’s tennis historical past. Such is his understatement that the greatness of what he’s doing should not be misplaced.
