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Carlos Alcaraz Becomes Third Man To Complete Set Of Clay-Court Masters Titles With Rome Win
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Alcaraz achieved the impressive feat of winning all three clay-court Masters 1000 titles by winning the ATP Rome title for the first time. The Spaniard saved his best tennis for last, producing a dazzling performance to end Jannik Sinner’s 26-match undefeated streak in the final at the Foro Italico.

Alcaraz lifted his first career title at the Italian Open, putting the trophy alongside his previous title triumphs in Madrid (2022-2023) and Monte Carlo (2025). By triumphing in the Eternal City, Alcaraz has now completed the set of winning the three biggest clay-court titles outside the French Open. t’s a rare feat that only two men have achieved before him – Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. That reflects the scale of Alcaraz’s achievements and puts him in some august company.

Alcaraz saved two set points at 5-6, 15-40 in the first set before prevailing in the tie-break. With the crowd understandably behind Sinner, the second set was largely one-way traffic as Alcaraz broke Sinner on two occasions to wrap up a 7-6 6-1 victory in just under two hours.

The 22-year-old will return to the #2 ranking on Monday and laid down a marker as the outright favorite to win the French Open. As the top two seeds in Paris, Alcaraz and Sinner will spearhead the two halves of the draw and can only meet in the final.

Alcaraz posted his 15th win from 16 matches on clay this term, with his only defeat coming in Barcelona against Holger Rune. The injury he sustained in that tournament ruled him out from Madrid, but recovered in time to launch successful title win in Rome.

Alcaraz is now halfway to completing the Golden Masters – the unique achievement of winning all nine Masters events. So far, Alcaraz has triumphed in at least five ATP 1000 tournaments and is still missing Montreal/Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai, and Paris-Bercy. Djokovic remains the only man to win the Golden Masters with the Serbian having in fact won every Masters title at least twice.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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