Jannik Sinner continued his reign of terror over men’s tennis on the clay courts of Europe as he effortlessly recovered from a slow start to overpower Casper Ruud, the 23rd seed, 6-4, 6-4 and become the first Italian man in 50 years to win the Italian Open.
It is difficult to overstate the historic nature of this triumph. Sinner is only the second man in history to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles. This feat, one of the most impressive in the sport, was first achieved by Novak Djokovic in 2018 at the age of 31. Sinner has completed his set at just 24 years old, still seemingly with so much more to achieve in the sport.
He has also extended his record for consecutive Masters 1000 wins by becoming the first man to win six consecutive titles in total and to win the first five in a season. The concept of a player holding all Masters 1000 titles at once previously seemed so unattainable that it has rarely ever been considered, yet Sinner is now three away from doing so. He is also the only person other than Rafael Nadal in 2010 to win all three clay-court Masters 1000 titles in a year. On a more personal note, Sinner is the first Italian man to triumph in the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
In the injury-enforced absence of Carlos Alcaraz, his conqueror in Rome and at Roland Garros last year, not a single player has proven they can consistently compete with the No 1, who continues to perform at an incredible level every time he steps on the court. Although he is seeking his first title, Sinner will head to Paris more heavily favoured to win than any player in recent memory aside from Nadal.
Despite being one of the best clay-court players of his generation, a two-time French Open finalist, Ruud entered the match as perhaps as great an underdog as a player of his calibre could be. Sinner dominated their previous meetings, winning all four matches in straight sets and completely demolishing Ruud 6-0, 6-1 here last year.
To his credit, Ruud started the final well. He played about as proactively as possible, desperately searching for opportunities to dominate with his vicious forehand while mixing up his game with drop shots and occasional net forays. However, he was punished for his substandard serving and his backhand is simply not good enough to withstand Sinner’s unrivalled two-hander.
Instead of simply blazing through Ruud with his far superior firepower, as was the case last year, Sinner broke through at 4-4 in the first set with a demonstration of his increasingly complete game, snatching the decisive break by peppering Ruud with drop shots off both wings on three consecutive points. With the first set secured, Sinner broke serve at the start of the second before rolling to another supreme victory that affords him several more entries into the tennis history books at once.
