Sunday features the finals in men’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles.
Jannik Sinner is just one match away from a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title, by claiming the only Masters event he is yet to win: the one in his home country. On Sunday in Rome, he faces two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud, who is yet to even take a set from Sinner in four previous meetings.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Casper Ruud (23) – Not Before 5:00pm on Campo Centrale
The most recent of those four previous meetings took place last year in the quarterfinals of this same tournament, when Sinner dominated Ruud by a score of 6-0, 6-1. Six months before that, at the ATP Finals, Sinner beat Ruud 6-1, 6-2. So this matchup has not been resulting in anything resembling a rivalry, as Ruud’s game does not match up well with Sinner’s.
Pretty much anyone not named Carlos Alcaraz has failed to match up well with Sinner of late. The World No.1 is 35-2 on the year, and hasn’t lost a completed match at a Masters 1000 event since the final of Rome a full year ago, when he lost to Alcaraz in Sinner’s first tournament back from his 90-day suspension. While he lost a set to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, that’s the first set Jannik has dropped since the first round of Madrid. And while that semifinal was carried over to Saturday due to rain, the Italian only had a to play a few games to finish off that three-set victory, so he should be rather fresh for this final on Sunday.
Ruud has also lost only one set this fortnight, and has now defeated four top 20 players in a row. But he was only 12-9 this season before in arriving in Rome, and this is only his second final since claiming his first Masters 1000 title over a year ago in Madrid, so he has not been at his best level across the past 52 weeks. And there’s just not much Ruud can do to make Sinner uncomfortable, so unless Jannik has a really off day, or unless we see him in some physical discomfort as we did during the semifinals, the World No.1 is a huge favorite to win this title.
Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.
