Published May 18, 2026
Jannik Sinner has completed tennis’ coveted Golden Masters, becoming only the second man after Novak Djokovic to win all nine of the Masters 1000, the biggest non-Grand Slam tournament.
Top-ranked Sinner defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday’s final of the Italian Open, becoming the first Italian man to win the tournament since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
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After winning the title and accomplishing the feat on the red clay of Rome’s Forum Italico, Sinner told a jubilant home crowd that his half-century wait was finally over: “There is no better place to complete this set.”
“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, Ohio, USA in 2018 at the age of 31, and since then he has 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, he is proving difficult to beat.
“Welcome to Yannick, the exclusive club,” Djokovic wrote 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. And he’s 17-0 on clay this year, preparing to play at Roland Garros, which begins Sunday.
Sinner celebrated quietly as usual, grinning broadly and holding his hands above his head in relief as he hit an inside-out forehand over the line for his first championship point. He then waved to the crowd, including former Italian professional tennis player Adriano 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 won his first tournament back after a three-month suspension for doping after losing to Alcaraz in the Rome final last year, with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in attendance. The defeat came a day after Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to win the Rome singles title in 40 years. She also won a trophy in doubles with Sara Errani.
Sinner’s fans, many wearing his theme color orange, filled the Campo Centrale with a capacity crowd of 10,500, creating a soccer-like atmosphere with chants and loud cheers for the player who has become Italy’s most popular player.
After several key points, the audience cheered, “Ole, ole, ole, ole, sinner, sinner.” There were further chants afterwards during the trophy presentation.
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 arena, Arthur Ashe Stadium for the US Open), it would have been packed.
No signs of fatigue
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 break and a 2-0 advantage at the start of the first set against Sinner. Sinner 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.”
An unforgettable day for Italy
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 Bavassoli 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 set up on a statue-lined court in the Nicola Pietrangeli Stadium, next to the Campo Centrale.
Elina Svitolina defeated Coco Gauff in a women’s singles title match on Saturday.
