Tennis-Sinner wins Italian Open to complete Masters collection

ROME, May 17 (Reuters) – Jannik Sinner beat Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-4 6-4 in the Italian Open final on Sunday to complete a sweep of all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, becoming only the second player after Novak Djokovic to achieve a career “Golden Masters”.

World number one Sinner, who had lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the tournament’s final last year, finally captured the elusive title on home soil on his seventh attempt, clinching his fifth ATP 1000 title of the year.

Ruud went 2-0 with a break in the first set but Sinner immediately broke back. With the set tied 4-4, the 24-year-old outwitted the Norwegian with a sharp backhand to bring up break point before a hasty Ruud shot over the baseline handed Sinner a decisive 5-4 lead.

A break in the second set’s first game was enough to seal the match for Sinner, who extended his Masters winning streak to 34 matches, a record run that has seen him claim titles in Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid and now Rome.

Sinner became the first Italian to win the men’s singles title in Rome since Adriano Panatta in 1976, hours after Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori won the men’s doubles, the first Italian pair to do so in 66 years.

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)