Source : ABC NEWS
Carlos Alcaraz ended Jannik Sinner’s perfect return from a three-month doping ban, beating the home favourite 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the final of the Italian Open in Rome.
The defending French Open champion and third seed underlined his status as favourite to retain his crown at Roland Garros by claiming his first Italian Open title.
And also by proving the world number one holds no mystique over him.
If anything, it is the other way around.
Since the start of last year, Alcaraz is the only player to beat Sinner more than once and he has now done it four straight times.
“Just proud about myself, the way that I approached the match mentally. Tactically think I did it pretty well from the first to the last point,” Alcaraz said.
“I maintained my level during the whole match.”
Jannik Sinner had no answer to Carlos Alcaraz in the second set. (Getty Images: Silvia Lore)
Alcaraz’s victory before Sinner’s home fans at the Foro Italico snapped the Italian’s 26-match winning streak, which stretched back to October — when Alcaraz beat him in the China Open final in a third-set tie breaker. Alcaraz now leads the career series 7-4.
Sinner was playing his first tournament since he won his third grand slam title at the Australian Open in January.
In February, Sinner agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised questions, since the three-month suspension allowed him not to miss any grand slams and to come back at his home tournament.
Sinner said he and his team went through “three months that were anything but easy, so achieving this result already here is really big” and that “we should be really proud”.
“We’re bringing home a very special trophy, even if I wanted the other one,” he added.
Carlos Alcaraz was sublime in the second set. (Getty Images: Dan Istitene)
Sinner was attempting to become the first home man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
He was also trying to complete a sweep of the Rome singles titles for Italy after Jasmine Paolini won the women’s trophy on Saturday.
Paolini and partner Sara Errani also defended their women’s doubles title earlier on Sunday, making Paolini the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990 to sweep Rome’s singles and doubles titles in the same year.
A large number of the 10,500 fans in Campo Centrale were decked out in orange — Sinner’s theme colour — and they were chanting Sinner’s name before the match even began.
But Sinner wasted two set points on Alcaraz’s serve when he led 6-5 in the first set, then Alcaraz jumped ahead in the tie breaker with two aces and held on to seal it before cruising in the second set.
On Alcaraz’s third match point, Sinner ran down a drop shot but Alcaraz was waiting for his reply and hit a stretch volley winner into the open court.
Alcaraz then held his hands out wide and flashed a wide smile.
“I’m just really happy to see Jannik back at this amazing level,” Alcaraz said of Sinner’s return to action following his controversial drug ban.
“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him coming back from three months without playing. Making the final here is something insane.”
Alcaraz, a four-time grand slam champion, will move back up to number two in the rankings on Monday after his third final in three clay-court events this season.
He won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in the Barcelona Open before withdrawing from the Madrid Open because of injury.
Having also won the Madrid Open in 2022 and 2023, Alcaraz became the fifth man to win all three Masters 1000 clay events after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten and Marcelo Rios.
AP/ABC
