Sinner wins Italian Open, Svitolina sees off Gauff in final

Jannik Sinner won the Italian Open on Sunday after beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to claim a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 tournament victory.

World number one Sinner has now completed the ‘Golden Masters’ by winning all of the ATP’s top-ranked events after becoming the first Italian champion at the Foro Italico since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago.

Only Novak Djokovic had previously won all nine Masters 1000 events before Sunday, but there was little doubt about Sinner triumphing over the last 10 days.

Sinner heads into Roland Garros, which starts next weekend, on a 29-match winning streak after beating Ruud for a fifth time in as many meetings.

And his run of match wins is even longer, 34, in Masters 1000 tournaments, another record he has established in a season in which he has dominated the men’s tour.

Sinner can complete his collection of Grand Slams at Roland Garros and with his great rival Carlos Alcaraz out of action few would bet against him securing a first title on Paris clay.

Norway's Casper Ruud holds a runner-up trophy at the Foro Italico in Rome on Sunday. AFP

Ruud has won more matches and tournaments on clay than anyone else on the men’s tour since the start of 2020 -- last winning a Masters 1000 event at Madrid last year -- but he couldn’t beat Sinner for the first time.

Norwegian Ruud had never won a set against Sinner in any of their previous four meetings, but immediately improved on the fearful hammering he received here from the Italian last year by winning the first two games.

But Sinner broke straight back and took the lead in the match after an opening set in which world number 25 held his own against a player he’d previous said “cannot lose”.

Sinner then broke Ruud again at the start of the second set and from there it was just a matter of time before he won the championship, even though Ruud performed with credit in front of a packed centre court crowd.

It was a good day for Italian tennis as Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori also won the men’s doubles title, beating second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 10-3.

Earlier, Elina Svitolina won the Italian Open on Saturday after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final.

Jannik Sinner and second placed Casper Ruud (right) pose after their final match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Sunday. AP

Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph.

Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French Open which starts next weekend.

“Of course it gives me a lot of confidence going into Roland Garros,” Svitolina told reporters.

American star Gauff was aiming to become the first American to win in the Italian capital since Serena Williams in 2016, but the problems with her serve which have so long dogged her game began to resurface on centre court.

Her serve was broken three times by Svitolina on her way to losing the first set, thanks in part to four double-faults, two of which came in the game which allowed her opponent to move ahead in the match.

Agencies