Alcaraz Wins the Italian Open After Defeating Sinner in Straight Sets

Carlos Alcaraz defeated the world’s best tennis player 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the Italian Open final on Sunday, May 18, to win his third title of the 2025 season, suggesting that he has Jannik Sinner’s number.

Now that he has won seven of their eleven meetings and his fourth straight match, the Spaniard is in excellent form heading into the French Open after winning his eighth ATP Masters 1000 title.

Sinner leads the global rankings, but Alcaraz, who had defeated him in the China Open final the previous year, interrupted his 26-match winning streak.

Since the beginning of 2024, when his Italian opponent started to ascend to the top of men’s tennis and win three Grand Slam titles, Alcaraz is the only man to defeat Sinner in a tour final.

After breaking the Italian in the second and fourth games, the 22-year-old Alcaraz dominated play in the second set, gaining a decisive 5-0 lead.

After an hour and forty-five minutes, it was all over. Alcaraz is the first player to win 30 games this season, whereas Sinner had not lost in straight sets in his previous 94 games.

Since his countryman Rafael Nadal in 2018, Alcaraz is the only person to win more than one clay ATP Masters 1000 championship in a single season.

The fifth man to win all four of the clay court ATP Masters 1000 titles (Madrid 2022, Monte Carlo 2025, Rome 2025) after Nadal, Djokovic, Kuerten, and Rios.