Jannik Sinner defeats Casper Ruud to win Italian Open, joining Novak Djokovic as only man to win all 9 Masters 1000 titles

Jannik Sinner will enter Roland-Garros on one of the strongest runs in the history of tennis.

The ATP No. 1 defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Italian Open on Sunday, his first career title at his home country’s tournament.

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Ruud played to an early 2-0 lead in the first set, breaking Sinner with strong returns from the baseline and forcing the Italian into uncharacteristic mistakes. However, Sinner shook off that sluggish start by controlling his serve to even the set.

From a 2-2 deadlock, both players traded games until Sinner finally broke Rudd to go ahead 5-4. Countering Rudd’s strength from the back line with drop shots at the net was particularly effective.

Sinner stayed aggressive in the second set, breaking Rudd early on after a long rally. As he continued to assert himself, the crowd at Foro Italico grew louder in its support for the Italian star.

Rudd held serve in a close third game and fought his way back into the set, stalling what was looking like an easy path to victory for Sinner. Yet he still couldn’t offer much resistance to Sinner’s serve. A backhand lunge for a shot deep into the corner went into the net and gave Sinner an opening to match point in a set he controlled from the start.

Sunday was Sinner’s fourth straight day playing tennis in Rome, as he defeated Learner Tien in the quarterfinal then had his semifinal match against Daniil Medvedev stretch across Friday and Saturday due to rain.

Sinner improved his head-to-head record versus Ruud to 5-0, defeating him in Rome for the second consecutive year. The two met in the Italian Open quarterfinals last year with Sinner winning easily, 6-0, 6-1.

With Sunday’s win, Sinner accomplished several things:

• it’s his 29th straight win, a streak dating back March 6

• it’s his 34th straight win in a Masters 1000 match, the longest streak in history

• it’s his sixth straight Masters 1000 title, the longest streak in history

• he joins Novak Djokovic as the only man to have won all nine Masters 1000 events in his career (Djokovic was 31 when he accomplished that, Sinner is 24)

• he joins Rafael Nadal (2010) as the only man to sweep the three Masters 1000 events on clay

• he’s the first Italian man to win the Rome title since Adriano Panatta in 1976

Sinner’s Masters 1000 streak includes wins at the 2025 Paris Masters and at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and now Rome this year. The last time he lost a Masters 1000 match played to completion was last year’s Rome final, when he fell to Carlos Alcaraz.

His only two losses this year are to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinal and Jakub Mensik in a close Qatar quarterfinal.

Between all of that success and Alcaraz going down with a wrist injury last month, Sinner is the overwhelming favorite to win the upcoming French Open and become the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam in the Open Era.

A Roland-Garros title would also give him what tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg has dubbed the Djokémon: capturing every “big” title at least once in his career (Grand Slams, Masters 1000s and the year-end final). Only Djokovic has ever done it, and Sinner is on the verge of replicating it at the age of 24.