Italian tennis fans have been waiting for this moment for half a century.
But for Jannik Sinner on Sunday, it wasn’t just about becoming the first Italian man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago.
In the final held on the red clay of the Foro Italico, top-ranked Sinner defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4, making him the second player after Novak Djokovic to win all nine Masters 1000 tournaments, the biggest non-Grand Slam tournament.
“There is no better place to complete this set,” said Sinner. “For Italians, this is one of the most special places to play tennis. It means a lot to me to win at least once in my career.”
Djokovic ended his career in Cincinnati in 2018 at the age of 31 and has since won at least two championships in each tournament. Sinner is 24 years old and with his only real rival, Carlos Alcaraz, currently sidelined with a right wrist injury, it seems like no one can beat him.
“Welcome to the exclusive club, Yannick,” Djokovic posted on Instagram.
Sinner extended his winning streak to 29 games. He hasn’t lost since losing to Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open on February 19th. This year, he will head into the French Open, which starts on May 24, with a record of 17 wins and 0 losses on clay.
He celebrated in his usual calm manner, grinning widely as he hit an inside-out forehand over the line for his first championship point, then holding his hands over his head in relief. He waved to the crowd, including 1976 champion Panatta, who was sitting in the front row.
“Adriano, after 50 years, we have regained a very important trophy,” Sinner told Panatta, 75, who attended the trophy ceremony.
Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam that Sinner did not win. He has won the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon and the US Open once each.
Sinner’s victory, which was attended by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, came after he lost to Alcaraz in the final of last year’s Rome Games, his first tournament back after a three-month suspension for doping. The defeat came a day after Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman in 40 years to win the singles title in Rome in 2025, and also won the doubles title with partner Sara Errani.
Many of Sinner’s fans wore orange, his theme color, and the packed 10,500-person Campo Centrale created a soccer-like atmosphere, with chants and loud cheers for the player who has become Italy’s most popular athlete.
After several key points, the audience cheered, “Ole, ole, ole, ole, sinner, sinner.”
Italian Tennis Federation president Angelo Binaghi suggested that even if Rome had a 25,000-seat Center Court (larger than the world’s largest tennis venue, Arthur Ashe Stadium for the US Open), it would have been packed.
Sinner overcame fatigue to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of a match postponed due to rain that took two days to finish. But there were no signs of fatigue against the 25th-ranked Ruud, who has long been one of the circuit’s top clay court players.
Ruud reached the final at Roland Garros twice, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Djokovic in 2023. However, the Norwegian squandered an early 2-0 advantage in the first set against Sinner, who quickly broke back and broke again at the end of the set with the help of three crucial drop shots. Two of them were in such good positions that Ruud didn’t even run for them.
In the first game of the second set, a big backhand winner on the line gave Sinner another break.
Sinner improved to 5-0 in his career against Rude.
“It’s hard to explain in words what you’re doing this year,” Ruud told Sinner during the trophy ceremony. “It was a real honor to watch you play. … Congratulations on making history.”
It was a special day for the hosts as Simone Borrelli and Andrea Vavassoli became the first Italian duo to win the men’s doubles title in Rome since 1960. Borrelli and Vavassoli defeated Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 10-3.
The singles and doubles finals were watched by a packed crowd on a giant screen on the statue-lined Pietrangeli Court next to the Campo Centrale.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
