Clay king Alcaraz defeats Sinner for Rome crown
Carlos Alcaraz lifted the trophy in Rome
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner 7-6 (5), 6-1 to win his seventh ATP Masters 1000 title – the first man since Rafael Nadal to win multiple clay crowns at that level in one calendar year, and the fifth man since the event category was introduced to win all three clay events.
He now has a 10-2 record against Top Five players since the start of 2024, and is 27-2 on clay in the last 12 months – continuing his ominous form as he prepares to defend his Roland-Garros title.
The first set was of the highest quality, and as closely fought as this encounter had been anticipated to be, with the Spaniard saving two set points on his serve with Sinner leading 6-5 before dominating an impressive tiebreak.
Sinner’s 26-match unbeaten streak is at an end; he could not give the Rome crowd their second Italian singles champion of the weekend after Jasmine Paolini’s triumph on Saturday, or become the second man to win the tournament since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
