Jannik Sinner took the Italian Open title on Sunday, defeating Caspar Ruud 6-4, 6-4. Sinner is the first Italian man to win the national open since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Rome has had to wait half a century for this. Jannik Sinner defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the Italian Open final on Sunday, becoming the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta in 1976 to lift the title on home soil.
Panatta himself was present on the podium, alongside Italian Tennis Federation president Angelo Binaghi. They watched as Sinner claimed the trophy from Italian president Sergio Mattarella.
In his victory speech, visibly flustered in the presence of the head of state, Sinner admitted he was always very emotional when “Mister Mattarella” was in attendance, before laughing and adding that he always manages to put himself in awkward situations when the two meet.
The match
Ruud was not there merely to make up the numbers. The Norwegian made the stronger start, racing into an early lead in the opening set as Sinner struggled to settle, missing seven first serves. For a moment, the script appeared to be wobbling. It did not wobble for long. With the set level at 4-4, the Italian shook off his jitters, rediscovered his rhythm, and closed out the opener 6-4.
From a 2-2 deadlock in the second set, both players traded games until Sinner finally broke to go ahead 5-4, countering Ruud’s strength from the baseline with drop shots at the net to particularly effective ends. The second set followed a similar pattern, with Sinner sealing victory after one hour and 45 minutes of play. The match point came on a forehand to the line, and Sinner celebrated with his characteristic calm.
“I’m really, really happy — it’s been an incredible last two and a half months,” Sinner said after the match. “There has been a lot of tension, especially here in the final. But it’s a learning process. I can’t know everything at 24 years old.”
After singing Sinner’s praises, Ruud highlighted how well Italian tennis is doing. “I just wanted to say that the Italian Tennis Federation are doing an incredible job, what Jannik is doing, but also after Jannik you have six, seven, eight unbelievable players who are taking tennis by storm.”
He then added some humour comparing Italian tennis to football, “I know that in football it is a different story at the moment, sorry, but when you are losing to Norway we have to be able to make a bit of jokes.”
Sinner’s achievements
The Rome title completed the career Golden Masters, the full sweep of all nine ATP Masters 1000 events, making Sinner only the second man in the sport’s history to achieve the feat, after Novak Djokovic. Djokovic completed the Golden Masters at age 31, in Cincinnati in 2018; Sinner has done so seven years ahead of that benchmark.
Sinner also joins Rafael Nadal (2010) as the only man to sweep all three clay-court Masters 1000 events in a single season, having won Monte-Carlo and Madrid before Rome. The victory extends his Masters 1000 winning streak to 34 matches and his overall winning streak on clay in 2026 to 17-0.
His title haul in 2026 alone now reads: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. Since becoming Italy’s first men’s world number one in June 2024, Sinner has captured four Grand Slam titles — the Australian Open and US Open in 2024, followed by a second Australian Open crown and the Wimbledon title in 2025.
The parallel with Panatta is impossible to ignore. In 1976, Panatta won the Italian Open and then followed it weeks later by winning Roland Garros, completing a clay-court double no Italian man has replicated since. He also finished the year by helping Italy claim its first-ever Davis Cup title. Sinner will now attempt the same clay-court double, with Roland Garros the only Grand Slam title still missing from his collection.
