World No. 1 defeats Casper Ruud to claim maiden Rome title and make history in ATP Masters
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated 23rd seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Italian Open 2026 men’s singles title and complete the Career Golden Masters, becoming the youngest player in history to achieve the feat.
Sinner secured victory in one hour and 45 minutes at the Italian Open, delivering a composed performance in front of a home crowd to claim his maiden Rome crown.
Ruud starts strong but Sinner responds
Ruud began aggressively, using long rallies and drop shots to disrupt Sinner’s rhythm, earning an early break to go 2-0 up in the first set.
However, Sinner gradually found his footing, leveling the set at 4-4 before breaking decisively in the ninth game with sharp baseline play and delicate drop shots, before serving out the set 6-4.
World No. 1 dominates second set
In the second set, Sinner raised his first-serve percentage and broke early with a backhand down-the-line winner to seize control.
Although Ruud earned a break point in the eighth game after an overhead error, Sinner saved it and held firm before closing out the match with a forehand winner to complete another 6-4 set.
Historic achievement for Sinner
With the win, Sinner became only the second player after Novak Djokovic to complete victories across all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
He also became the first player to win six consecutive Masters 1000 titles and the first Italian men’s singles champion in Rome since 1976.
Speaking after the match, Sinner said he was not perfect at the start but remained calm mentally, adding that winning in Rome made the achievement even more special.
Doubles and women’s results
In the men’s doubles final, Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori defeated Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 10-3 to become Rome champions.
Earlier, in the women’s doubles final, Russian pair Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider defeated Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 6-3, 6-3 to claim their third title as a team.