Dust & Glory: Sinner is First Italian Man in 50 Years to Win Rome
By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, May 17, 2026
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Blasting hype music in his head isn’t part of Jannik Sinner’s pre-match routine.
Virtuoso Sinner continues to orchestrate imposing Italian anthem.
Home hero Sinner swept Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to capture his maiden Rome championship, record sixth straight Masters 1000 crown and send Foro Italico fans into a sing-song tribute chant of “Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole! Sinner! Sinner!”
The 24-year-old Italian scored his record-extending 34th consecutive Masters 1000 match victory hitting his way into history. Sinner joins Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic as just the second man in Open Era history to complete the Golden Masters—winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 championships—and he’s the only man to sweep six in a row at the 1000 level.
A half-century after legendary Italian Adriano Panatta stylishly serve-and-volleyed his way to the 1976 Rome championship, Sinner made Masters history in the Eternal City as the second Italian man to rule Rome.
Italian Davis Cup hero Sinner seized the title hours after his seventh-seeded compatriots—Andrea Vavassori Simone Bolelli—collected the Rome doubles championship.
The Italian tennis renaissance continues and the charismatic Panatta, looking like he could be a force on the doubles court today, was on hand to watch history happen 50 years after his Roman rule.
Former junior ski champion Sinner scaled the Masters mountain joining Novak Djokovic as the second man to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 championships and equaling King of Clay Rafael Nadal as the second man to collect all three Masters 1000 clay-court championships—Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome—in the same season.
“Unbelievable,” said Ruud, winless in five career meetings vs. Sinner, told the victor in the post-match hand-shaking expressing sentiments held by most of the Tour not named Carlos Alcaraz.
A year ago, Sinner ravaged Ruud 6-0, 6-1 overpowering the Norwegian in the Rome quarterfinals. In today’s rematch, Sinner shredded the two-time French Open finalist dabbing drop shots, driving the ball down the line and, after a slow start, serving superbly winning 29 of 35 first-serve points.
“First of all, I think the only thing to do is congratulate Jannik for his first title here,” Ruud said. “What you’re doing this year is hard to describe in words. As someone who is also playing tennis at the highest level, to be able to share the court with you is an honor in a beautiful arena. Congrats to you for making history for yourself, for your country, for your team, it’s a fantastic accomplishment.”
Charging to his record-extending 34th consecutive ATP Masters 1000 match win, Sinner made history winning his sixth straight ATP Masters 1000 championship a run that has seen him hoist title trophies at the Rolex Paris Masters, Indian Wells, Miami Open, Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Mutua Madrid Open and now his home Masters in Rome.
It is Sinner’s 29th Tour-level championship, including his fifth title of 2026.
A jittery Sinner missed his first seven first serves of the final then shook off the nerves and unleashed a stifling serve.
The 24-year-old Italian rallied from a 0-2 deficit today powering past Ruud for the fifth time in as many meetings. Sinner raised his 2026 record to 36-2 with his last loss coming to Jakub Mensik in the Doha quarterfinals back in February.
Since then, Sinner has rampaged through 29 consecutive wins solidifying his status as a firm favorite to capture his maiden Roland Garros crown and complete the career Grand Slam in Paris next month.
Contesting his maiden Rome final, Ruud was bidding to become the first man to defeat Sinner on clay this season and made a bright start with shadows already halfway across the court as the final began at 5:23 p.m. Rome time.
The 2025 Madrid champion cruised through eight of the first nine points breaking for a 2-0 lead as Sinner did not land a first serve in his first service game.
Sinner smoked a backhand strike down the line breaking back at 15 in the third game as the packed Foro Italico crowd, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella roared in support.
Facing a Love-30 deficit in the seventh game, Ruud was taking short preparation steps quickly and crunched three forehand winners digging out of the hole to hold for 4-3.
Though Sinner has a well-earned reputation as the purest—and most powerful—ball strikers in the sport, he flicked a flurry of drop shots to coax the break in the ninth game.
The man in black bunted a forehand drop-shot winner for double break point. On his second break point, Sinner shoveled his third dropper of the game and though Ruud caught up to it he pushed his reply long. Sinner broke for 5-4.
Finding his first serve, Sinner stroked a forehand winner down the line for triple set point.
A soaring Sinner threw down a Sampras-esque smash putting a powerful exclamation point on the 49-minute opening set. Sinner sped through six of the last eight games taking his ninth consecutive set over the Norwegian.
One reason Sinner dominates this rivalry is his command in crosscourt backhand-to-backhand exchanges. Sinner, whose backhand is both more damaging and versatile than his opponent, torched his two-hander down the line scoring his second straight break to start the second set.
Playing catch-up, Ruud could not close the gap but applied pressure late in the set.
Setting up for an easy smash, Sinner badly bungled it framing the overhead long to hand Ruud his first break point since Game No. 2.
Embed from Getty ImagesDrilling a diagonal forehand, Sinner saved break point then held firm for a 6-4, 5-3 lead.
“Unfortunately I kind of dabbed off a little bit towards the end of the first set and beginning of second,” Ruud said. “That’s kind of where the match kind of was not decided but where he got off to a lead obviously. Winning the first set and break up early in the second, it’s not easy to come back from that. I
had one break point in the second set that I didn’t get. He stepped up.
“I think the main difference was that in the second set he really stepped up his serving. I really couldn’t do much in my returning games. I was a bit too short. When you are a bit too short or not precise enough against Jannik, he just rips you off the court. I know that if I want to have more chance, I need to be more precise with the baseline shots, the rallies that we get into.”
Slashing an inside out forehand, Sinner sealed his maiden Rome championship in one hour, 45 minutes.
There was a brief pause as Italian fans were unsure if the shot was good. Then the crowd erupted in euphoria.
Sinner, a national phenomenon who counts Pope Leo and musician Andrea Bocelli among his famous friendly fans, collaborated with the fame Italian tenor on a track titled “Dust & Glory” last June.
Today, Sinner returned Rome to Italian rule for the first time in 50 years and inspired the Foro Italico faithful into a celebratory chorus reverberating all the way to Paris.
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