Alcaraz topples Sinner again to win the Italian Open

[Pelican Press 0]

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Alcaraz topples Sinner again to win the Italian Open

Carlos Alcaraz has defeated world No.1 Jannik Sinner again to win his first Italian Open and add another big clay-court title to his resume.

Since the start of last year, Alcaraz is the only player to beat Sinner more than once and now he’s done it four straight times thanks to his emphatic 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 win at Rome’s Foro Italico on Sunday.

Alcaraz’s victory before Sinner’s home fans snapped the Italian’s 26-match winning streak, which stretched back to October — when Alcaraz beat him in the China Open final in a third-set tiebreaker.

Alcaraz now leads the career series 7-4 after ensuring Sinner’s first tournament back after a three-month doping ban ended in anti-climax.

The Spaniard also solidified his status as the favourite to defend his title at the French Open, which starts next Sunday.

Sinner was playing his first tournament since he won his third grand slam title at the *********** Open in January.

In February, he’d agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised questions, since the three-month suspension allowed him not to miss any grand slams, and come back at his home tournament.

He was attempting to become the first home man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976 and trying to complete a sweep of the Rome singles titles for Italy after Jasmine Paolini won the women’s trophy on Saturday.

But despite huge home support, Sinner wasted two set points on Alcaraz’s serve when he led 6-5 in the first set and then Alcaraz jumped ahead in the tiebreaker with two aces and held on to seal it.

In the second set, though, Alcaraz moved up a gear to earn a victory that will move the four-time grand slam champion back up to No.2 in the rankings on Monday after his third final in three clay-court events this season.

He won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in the Barcelona Open before withdrawing from the Madrid Open because of injury.

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