ROME (AP) 鈥� Italian tennis fans had waited for this moment for a half century.
For , though, it wasn鈥檛 just about becoming the first Italian man to win the since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago.
The top-ranked Sinner鈥檚 6-4, 6-4 victory over Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final on the red clay of the also made him only the second man after to win all nine Masters 1000 events 鈥� the biggest tournaments outside the .
Djokovic completed the career set in 2018 in Cincinnati at age 31 鈥� and then went on to win each event at least twice. Sinner is 24, and with his only real rival, Carlos Alcaraz, currently due to a right wrist injury, seemingly nobody can beat him.
Sinner extended his winning streak to 29 matches. He hasn鈥檛 lost since getting beat by Jakub Mensik in the Qatar Open quarterfinals on Feb. 19. And he鈥檚 now 17-0 on clay this year entering the French Open, which starts next Sunday.
Incredible,鈥� Sinner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time since an Italian won 鈥� 50 years. I鈥檓 happy one of us was able to take advantage of this great period for Italian tennis.鈥�
Sinner celebrated calmly as usual, revealing a wide smile when he landed an inside-out forehand on the line on his first championship point, then held his hands over his head in apparent relief. Then he waved to the crowd, which included 1976 champion Panatta sitting in the front row.
鈥淎driano, after 50 years we鈥檝e won back a very important trophy,鈥� Sinner told Panatta, who participated in the trophy ceremony.
Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam that Sinner hasn鈥檛 won: He has two Australian Open titles and has won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open once each.
Soccer-style atmosphere
Sinner鈥檚 triumph 鈥� with Italy President Sergio Mattarella in attendance 鈥� came after he lost last year鈥檚 final in Rome to Alcaraz in his first tournament back after . That defeat came a day after in 2025 became the first Italian woman to win the Rome singles title in 40 years 鈥� when she also claimed the doubles trophy with partner Sara Errani.
With many of Sinner鈥檚 fans dressed in orange 鈥� his theme color, which matches his curly hair 鈥� the capacity crowd of 10,500 on Campo Centrale created a soccer-style atmosphere with chanting and loud cheers for the player who has become far and away Italy鈥檚 most popular athlete.
After several key points, the crowd erupted into a cheer of 鈥淥le, Ole, Ole, Ole; Sin-ner, Sin-ner.鈥�
Angelo Binaghi, the president of the Italian tennis federation, suggested that even if there was a 25,000-seat center court in Rome 鈥� bigger than the U.S. Open鈥檚 Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world鈥檚 largest tennis arena 鈥� it would have been full.
No signs of fatigue
Sinner overcame exhaustion to beat Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals in a rain-delayed match that required two days to finish. But there were no signs of fatigue against the 25th-ranked Ruud, who has been one of the circuit鈥檚 top clay-court players for years.
Ruud reached two finals at Roland Garros, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Novak Djokovic in 2023. But the Norwegian wasted an early break and a 2-0 advantage at the start of the first set against Sinner, who quickly broke back and then broke again toward the end of the set with the help of three key drop shots 鈥� two of which were so well-placed that Ruud didn鈥檛 even run for them.
A big backhand winner up the line gave Sinner another break in the opening game of the second set.
Sinner improved to 5-0 in his career against Ruud.
鈥淲hat you鈥檙e doing this year it’s hard to describe in words,” Ruud told Sinner during the trophy ceremony. 鈥淚t’s really an honor to watch you play. … Congratulations for making history.”
Day to remember for Italy
It was an extra special day for the host nation after Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori became the first Italian duo to win the men鈥檚 doubles title in Rome since 1960.
Bolelli and Vavassori beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 10-3.
For both the singles and doubles finals, there was also a packed crowd watching on a jumbo screen on the statue-lined Pietrangeli court next to Campo Centrale.
on Saturday.
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