‘The truth is that it was difficult because of the injury; This tournament was very special; We were all very united, my family and my team, so it gives me a lot of confidence to Paris, ‘said the Spaniard
The Spanish tennis player, third in the world ranking, won the Masters 1000 of Rome on Sunday (18) by defeating in the final 7-6 (7/5) and 6-1, the world’s number one, the Italian, who returned to the courts after a three-month suspension. Alcaraz, who will become the second player in the new ATP ranking on Monday, has accumulated 19 titles at 22, including three this season.
He arrives in Roland Garros (from May 25 to June 8) with a 16 -won record and only one defeat on clay, confirming that he is the current dominated on this surface. “It’s wonderful to be able to win here, something amazing. The truth is that it was difficult because of the injury … This tournament was very special. We were all very united, my family and my team, so it gives me a lot of confidence to Paris,” Alcaraz said after the triumph.
Roland Garros winner of 2024 completely dissipated any questions about the right adductor injury that prevented him from playing Masters 1000 in Madrid. In a high voltage match between two players who have everything to reign in tennis in the next decade, both started solids, without a break, until they arrived at Tiebreak on the first set, in which Alcaraz ended up being more successful in the decisive points.
After equilibrium on the first set, in which she even had two break points and a set point to her advantage when she was 6-5, Sinner, with less experience and discomfort, collapsed in the second partial, while the Spaniard gained confidence and risked more, which led him to victory.
End of Sinner Sequence
With this victory in the italic forum, Alcaraz ended the impressive sequence of 26 consecutive victories of Sinner, the longest of his career, began after the defeat in the final of the Beijing Tournament, precisely against the Spaniard. Since then, Sinner, 23, won the Masters 1000 of Shanghai, the ATP Finals in Turin, the Davis Cup with Italy and, in January, the Australia Open for the second consecutive time.
But he was suspended from the circuit from February to May under an agreement with the World Anti -Doping Agency (Wada) after two positive anti -doping exams in March 2024 for closet, an anabolic steroid, attributed to the accidental contamination of his physical therapist. The Masters 1000 of Rome, where it had never passed the quarterfinals, marked its return to the circuit.
Although he has not become the first Italian to win in the Italic Forum since Adriano Panatta in 1976, Sinner far surpassed his initial goal, which was “winning one or two matches,” as he explained when he reached the capital. He obtained an impressive triumph in the quarterfinals against seven number and winner of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Norwegian Casper Ruud, whom he defeated 6-0 and 6-1.
The last ten champions of the Masters 1000 of Rome:
- 2025: Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
- 2024: Alexander Zverev (but)
- 2023: Daniil MedvedEV (RUS)
- 2022: Novak Djokovic (SRB)
- 2021: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
- 2020: Novak Djokovic (SRB)
- 2019: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
- 2018: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
- 2017: Alexander Zverev (but)
- 2016: Andy Murray (GBR)
Tennis players with more titles (in parentheses, the year of the last achievement):
- Rafael Nadal 10 (2021)
- Novak Djokovic 6 (2022)
- Jaroslav Drobny (Jun) 3 (1953)
- Martin Mulligan (from) 3 (1967)
- Thomas Must (AUT) 3 (1996)
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
