Jannik Sinner may be the world No. 1, but when it comes to his rivalry with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, it’s the Spaniard who is king — for now.
Alcaraz beat Sinner 7-6(5), 6-1 to win the Italian Open Sunday, sending the ideal message to his closest rival heading into the French Open, the year’s second Grand Slam.
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In a first set with just three break points, Sinner brought up two that would have seen him take it, But Alcaraz clawed his way back from *5-6, 15-40 by inducing some uncharacteristically reckless shots from the Italian. With those chances gone, Alcaraz sensed his moment and turned what had been a push-pull match into a masterclass. He played a solid tiebreak, to win the first set, snuffed out another opening for Sinner in the first game of the second and then accelerated away from his fading opponent.
At 6:30 p.m. in Rome, the match had been dead even. Before the clock struck seven, Alcaraz was dancing his way through rallies and joysticking the ball around the court just as he wanted, ultimately cruising to a straight-sets win that takes his lead over Sinner in their head to head to 7-4.
“I’m just really happy to see Jannik back at this amazing level,” Alcaraz said on court after the win.
“Proud about myself, the way I approached the match — mentally, in terms of hitting the shots, tactically, in terms of play.
“I didn’t do a roller coaster. I maintained my good level for the whole match,” he said.
Jannik Sinner’s stunning return to tennis ended in defeat at the hands of his closest rival. (Filippo Monteforte / AFP via Getty Images)
In one sense, this was one of the most predictable outcomes of the season. Sinner entered the tournament coining off a three-month anti-doping ban. Alcaraz, the Roland Garros champion who grew up on the red clay of Spain, had won the Monte Carlo Masters, reached the final in Barcelona, and then taken the Madrid Open off to nurse an injury. He came to Rome ready and rested, while Sinner arrived understandably not match tough enough to live with the player with whom he has split the last five Grand Slams.
Still, over the past 10 days, Sinner had played some of the most scintillating tennis of his life in front of an Italian crowd that wrapped him in their arms and powered him to a frightening level. He met the newly elected Pope Leo XIV one day. The next, he played what was statistically the best match of this season and the last on the ATP Tour, in annihilating Casper Ruud 6-0, 6-1.
Then, as he had done in all three of their meetings in 2024, Alcaraz brought him back down to earth.
(Top photo: Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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