Sinner defeats – Jannik Sinner beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the Italian Open final at Foro Italico, becoming the first Italian man to win the title in 50 years. The win also put Sinner only behind Novak Djokovic as the second player to capture all nine ATP Masters 1000 events,
ROME — Italian tennis fans had waited for this moment for a half-century.
Jannik Sinner delivered it in front of a packed Foro Italico crowd. beating Casper Ruud 6-4. 6-4 in Sunday’s final on red clay. and turning the day into far more than another trophy lift.. For Sinner. the milestone of becoming the first Italian man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago landed alongside a rare tennis résumé: he became only the second man after Novak Djokovic to win all nine Masters 1000 events.
That historical comparison carried weight.. Djokovic completed the career set in 2018 in Cincinnati at age 31, then went on to win each event at least twice.. Sinner is 24. and with his only real rival. Carlos Alcaraz. sidelined due to a right wrist injury. the sense in Rome was that the gap between him and the rest of the field may be widening.
Sinner extended his winning streak to 29 matches. He hasn’t lost since getting beat by Jakub Mensik in the Qatar Open quarterfinals on Feb. 19, and he entered the French Open next Sunday with a 17-0 record on clay this year.
“I’m happy one of us was able to take advantage of this great period for Italian tennis,” Sinner said.. The emotion in his celebration looked different from the usual fireworks: he stayed composed as he revealed a wide smile after an inside-out forehand on the line on his first championship point. then held his hands over his head in apparent relief.. He waved to the crowd, which included 1976 champion Panatta sitting in the front row.
There was also a sense of return and redemption tied to his recent history in Rome.. His triumph came after he lost last year’s final in Rome to Alcaraz in his first tournament back after a three-month doping ban.. That defeat arrived a day after Jasmime Paolini in 2025 became the first Italian woman to win the Rome singles title in 40 years. when she also claimed the doubles trophy with partner Sara Errani.
The crowd’s energy didn’t fade as the match swung toward Sinner.. With many of his fans dressed in orange — his theme colour. matching his curly hair — the capacity crowd of 10. 500 on Campo Centrale created a soccer-style atmosphere with chanting and loud cheers.. After several key points, the roar sharpened into a chant of “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole; Sin-ner, Sin-ner.”
Roland Garros remains the one major missing piece for Sinner. He has two Australian Open titles and has won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open once each, but he still hasn’t lifted the French Open trophy.
The sense of momentum in his season was underlined by how he reached the final and how he played once he got there.. Sinner overcame exhaustion to beat Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals in a rain-delayed match that required two days to finish.. Against the 25th-ranked Ruud, though, there were no signs of that fatigue.
Ruud entered the final with credentials as one of the tour’s top clay-court players for years. reaching two finals at Roland Garros. losing to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Novak Djokovic in 2023.. Yet early on. he stumbled: he wasted an early break and a 2-0 advantage at the start of the first set against Sinner.
Sinner responded quickly, breaking back before taking another decisive swing toward the end of the set.. Three key drop shots helped him in that phase. with two so well placed that Ruud didn’t even run for them.. A big backhand winner up the line gave Sinner another break in the opening game of the second set. and he continued to tighten the match’s margins as he closed it out.
Sinner also improved to 5-0 in his career against Ruud.
In the stands and beyond the court, the day carried additional weight for Italy.. For the singles and doubles finals. there was also a packed crowd watching on a jumbo screen on the statue-lined Pietrangeli court next to Campo Centrale.. And after Sinner’s victory — with Panatta set to present him the trophy and Italian President Sergio Mattarella also in attendance — the event underscored how publicly embraced Sinner has become.. Angelo Binaghi. the president of the Italian tennis federation. suggested that even if there were a 25. 000-seat centre court in Rome — bigger than the U.S.. Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world’s largest tennis arena — it would have been full.
A similar celebration unfolded in the doubles bracket. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori became the first Italian duo to win the men’s doubles title in Rome since 1960. They beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 10-3.
There was no shortage of women’s action either: Elina Svitolina beat Coco Gauff in the women’s singles title match on Saturday.
The pattern across the day was hard to miss: Sinner kept building on momentum already visible in his 29-match winning streak and 17-0 clay run, then capped it in Rome with straight-sets control over Ruud while Italy stacked titles in both doubles and women’s singles on top of his own.
Jannik Sinner Casper Ruud Italian Open Foro Italico Masters 1000 Roland Garros Adriano Panatta Sergio Mattarella Simone Bolelli Andrea Vavassori Elina Svitolina Coco Gauff