World No. 1 and Italian native son Jannik Sinner captured his sixth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title, subduing Norway’s Casper Ruud, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to raise the trophy at the Italian Open in Rome.
Sinner joined Serbia’s Novak Djokovic as the only two players to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, known as the Career Golden Masters. He extended his winning streak to 34 in these elite tournaments — breaking Djokovic’s record of 31 — and became the first Italian to win in Rome since Adriano Panatta pulled it off in 1976.
“I think this year was the 50th year since an Italian won and I am really, really happy,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “There was a lot of tension on both sides, it was not perfect tennis from both of us, but I am really happy.
“(It has been) an incredible past two and a half months. I try to put myself in the best possible position every time and do the best I can. Not every day is simple, but I am really, really happy.”
Sinner started sluggishly, missing his first seven first serves of the match as 23rd-seeded Ruud broke him in the second game. But he quickly recovered, breaking right back and succeeding on 13 of his next 18 first serves, winning 12 of those 13 points.
Tied at 4-all, he earned his second break of the set and won his serve at love to take the first set.
Sinner kept his foot on the gas to start the second set, ripping a backhand up the line to break Ruud. The Norwegian did get one chance at 3-4, but Sinner fended off one break point and crossed the finish line in one hour, 55 minutes.
The Italian recorded 26 winners and 15 unforced errors, while Ruud hit 22 winners and made 23 miscues.
Ruud will move up to No. 17 in the ATP Rankings on Monday.
Hamburg Open
Seeded Americans Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe both advanced to the round of 16 on Sunday with straight set triumphs in Hamburg, Germany.
Paul, seeded No. 6, defeated fellow American Ethan Quinn, 6-1, 6-3, while No. 8 Tiafoe knocked off Germany’s Diego Dedura, 6-4, 6-4.
Paul did not face a break point and converted 5-of-8 in the match. Quinn struggled, recording only five winners and 25 unforced errors. Tiafoe had a tougher time, but saved all eight break points, including five in the sixth game of the second set.
Geneva Open
In the lone main draw match on Sunday, Argentine Mariano Navone stunned his countryman Marco Trungelitti, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in a two-hour, 55-minute come-from-behind victory to advance to the round of 16 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Trungelli served for the match twice, leading 5-1 and 5-3 in the deciding set. But Navone broke without facing a match point in either game and reeled off six consecutive games to prevail.
Navone won 66 of 140 (47.1%) return points in the match.
–Field Level Media
