Over the peculiar past three months in men’s tennis, the anti-doping suspension imposed on Jannik Sinner also left its mark on his greatest rival. In the No 1’s absence, all eyes and expectations turned toCarlos Alcaraz. At times, the Spaniard has said, the pressure “killed” him.
Alcaraz found his way again by focusing on himself, on approaching his tennis with joy and composure, and in the most highly anticipated match of the season he marked the renewal of their era-defining rivalry with a statement victory by toppling Sinner 7-6 (5), 6-1 to win the Italian Open for the first time in his career.
By securing his seventh career Masters 1000 title and 19th overall, Alcaraz ended the Italian’s hopes of a perfect climax to a supreme comeback tournament, also halting his winning streak at 26 matches. Since last August, Sinner has compiled a 41-2 record on the ATP tour. Alcaraz is responsible for both those defeats and he has won his past four matches against Sinner, extending his lead in their head-to-head to 7-4.
“Tactically since the beginning till the last ball, I didn’t lose the focus, which is great for me,” Alcaraz said. “Probably one of the best matches I played so far in terms of level, maintain all the level during the whole match. So I’m just really proud about that.”
Having started the clay-court season with his first Monte Carlo title, Alcaraz is now also the third man since the advent of the ATP in 1990 to win every significant clay title on offer. The 22-year-old won his first Roland Garros title last year and he is a two-time Madrid Open champion. Although this match was played in Sinner’s home country, the clay remains Alcaraz’s turf.
With each win for Sinner in Rome, the Foro Italico has gradually become a flood of orange, which between Sinner’s hair colour and the much-parodied instance of him eating a carrot on-court early in his career, has become a symbolic colour for the world No 1 in Italy. Even before the match began, the Italian crowd made its presence felt by chanting Sinner’s name throughout the warm-up.
During their earlier meetings, Alcaraz was punished when he tried to match Sinner’s firepower, with the Italian’s clean, destructive groundstrokes feeding off the rhythm and pace provided by Alcaraz. He has since found success through his variety and patience, mixing up the trajectory and pace of his ground strokes, particularly throwing in ample loopier topspin balls, alongside his offensive intentions to arrest Sinner’s rhythm and keep the ball out of his preferred strike zone. This victory was a consequence of Alcaraz’s improving discipline and tactical nous.
Down two set points on his serve at 5-6, 15-40 in the opening set, Alcaraz locked down his game, working a backhand error out of Sinner on the second set point before sealing an excellent hold. It was, as ever, also decided by a stroke of genius. At the end of a tense tie-break at 6-5, Alcaraz closed down the net and killed the set point with a spectacular backhand drop volley. With the opening set secured, Alcaraz opened his shoulders and played with freedom until the end as he earned another significant distinction.
Even beyond Sinner’s success on the court, this was an astonishing few weeks in the life of a new national hero. Whether in his practices, matches or even just when fans would catch glimpses of him in the private player areas, swarms of fans followed. Around the Italian capital, he is simply impossible to avoid with so many advertisements bearing his likeness. During the tournament, he even had an audience with the new pope, giving Leo XIV, an avid player, a tennis racket and balls.
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While he spoke in his press conference, Sinner was interrupted by fans outside chanting his name: “The experience [was] amazing, no,” Sinner said. “It’s something very, very special playing here in Italy, in Rome. They pick me up like a small child, no?”
Despite all of the mania surrounding him, Sinner was still able to focus and produce one of his best results on clay. It is still an excellent week that has re-established him as one of the top contenders for all tournaments. There will be many more battles between them to come.
“For sure there are some things like we saw today what we have to improve if we want to do good in Paris. I am closer than expected in a way of everything,” Sinner said. “But in the other way, it was good.
“It was a great week for me. Some matches incredibly well, some matches could be better. But this is tennis. It’s a lot of ups and downs. But no, everything together, it was a good, good tournament.”