Italy's Yannick Sinner won the Rome Masters, making the 24-year-old world number one the youngest to win the Golden Masters, an achievement that requires winning all nine tournaments in the category.
The ATP Masters 1000 series comprises nine annual tennis tournaments, second only to the Grand Slams in terms of prestige and ranking points. Only Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has won each of these nine tournaments in his career, finishing the series at the age of 31.
The Italian tournament is one of three clay-court Masters events of the season. Italy has not won a men's singles title on its home court in Rome for the past 50 years, with the last Italian champion being Adriano Pannatta in 1976.
In the final match, the world number one Sinner defeated Norwegian Kasper Ruud in straight sets with a score of 6:4, 6:4. This was the fifth head-to-head meeting between the athletes, and in all five cases the Italian won.
Ruud led 2-0 at the start of the first set, converting a break point, but Sinner equalized and secured the match victory with a break in the ninth game. In the second set, the Italian tennis player again took the game on the opponent's serve early in the game, holding the advantage until the end of the match.
ATP 1000, Italy. Final
Yannick Sinner (Italy ) — Kasper Ruud (Norway) 2:0 (6:4, 6:4)
“It wasn't perfect tennis on our part, but I'm very, very happy. The last two and a half months have been incredible. Not every day is easy, but I'm very, very happy,” Sinner said after the victory.
What other achievements have been submitted to Sinner?
- Joined Rafael Nadal as the only players to have won all three clay-court Masters (Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome).
- Became the first tennis player in history to win six Masters 1000 tournaments in a row (the series began at the 2025 Paris Masters and continued in 2026 in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome).
- He extended his winning streak in Masters 1000 matches to 34 consecutive matches. The Italian last lost a completed match in this category a year ago in Rome to Carlos Alcaraz.
- Extended his overall winning streak in all official competitions to 29 consecutive matches.
The victory in Rome allowed the Italian tennis player to consolidate his leadership in the ATP world ranking. The next major tournament for Sinner and Ruud will be the French Open (Roland Garros), the main draw of which starts on Sunday, May 24.