The fox is still on the prowl at the Masters 1000 level.
Jannik Sinner won his fourth consecutive 1000-point title — third in a row this season — by defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(5), 6-3 in the final of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday afternoon. Sinner did not drop a single set in Indian Wells and Miami while completing the Sunshine Double and he lost only one in Monte-Carlo (in a tiebreaker against Tomas Machac during their third-round match).
It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for the Italian in Sunday’s championship match despite another straight-set scoreline. Amidst slow and windy conditions, it was a back-and-forth affair with plenty of amazing shots but also far too many unforced errors. The costliest one came in the form of an Alcaraz double-fault down set point in the tiebreaker.
Sinner fell behind by a break early in the second but reeled off the last five games of the match to clinch victory after two hours and 15 minutes.
In addition to the title, the No. 1 ranking as also at stake. Sinner will be back in the top spot on Monday and figures to remain there for all or most of the clay-court swing given their respective number of points to defend. Alcaraz temporarily get it back, however, this coming week in Barcelona.
“It’s impressive what you are achieving right now,” the Spaniard told Sinner during the trophy ceremony. “It’s something incredible. Just congratulations for everything and for the work you are doing with your team. To my team: it wasn’t the end we wanted, but we had a lot of fun this week — we enjoyed every single day here.”
“You are doing amazing things year after year,” Sinner told Alcaraz. “Facing you, especially in final, makes [winning] even more special.”