Jannik Sinner claimed the Rome Masters title on Sunday, defeating Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 45 minutes to become only the second player in history to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments — a feat previously achieved solely by Novak Djokovic. The Italian, who hails from the small Alpine town of San Candido in South Tyrol, completed his collection in emphatic style, sweeping the three clay-court Masters events — Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome — in consecutive weeks, a sequence only Rafael Nadal had managed before him, in 2010.

Ruud, a specialist on clay who earlier this year won the Madrid Masters, gave Sinner a genuine contest for the opening stages, pressing the world number one with heavy groundstrokes, deep balls, and deliberate changes of rhythm. But once Sinner broke serve at the end of the first set, the outcome was rarely in doubt. The Italian's ability to generate pace and precision simultaneously — described by observers as playing at double speed — proved too consistent for the Norwegian to sustain pressure against. It was a marked improvement on their Rome encounter in 2024, when Ruud had managed to win only a single game in the same round.

The victory extended Sinner's remarkable run to 29 consecutive match wins — his last defeat came on 19 February in Doha — and six Masters titles in a row. He is now 24 years old and holds 29 career titles overall. In the Foro Italico stands, Adriano Panatta, the last Italian to win the Rome title, in 1976, watched on as his compatriot sealed the victory. Sinner's win also means he has been world number one for 71 weeks, and will surpass Sweden's Stefan Edberg on the all-time list regardless of his results at Roland Garros, which begins next Sunday.

Sinner's dominance is sharpening the focus on the French Open in Paris, the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him so far. His ranking lead is considerable: he stands 2,740 points ahead of Carlos Alcaraz, who has been sidelined since mid-April with a wrist injury, and nearly 9,000 points clear of world number three Alexander Zverev. Djokovic, now fourth in the rankings, welcomed Sinner to what he called an