Jannik Sinner ascends to No. 1 following victory against Alcaraz in Monte Carlo.
Jannik Sinner regained the world No. 1 ranking by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte-Carlo Masters final on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Italian player battled to a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory under challenging conditions as the top two players in men’s tennis faced off on clay for the first time since last year’s thrilling French Open final, which Alcaraz won in five sets.
In the end, it was Sinner who adapted better to the swirling winds in Monaco, extending his winning streak at the Masters 1000 level to 22 matches and narrowing his head-to-head record against the Spaniard to 10-7.
“We came here just trying to get as many matches as possible, having good feedback before other big tournaments coming up,” Sinner stated on court. “Today was very high level from both of us. It was a bit windy, breezy, completely different conditions than the tournament until today.
“But look, the result is amazing. Getting back to No. 1 means a lot to me. At the same, as I always say, the ranking is secondary. I’m very happy to win at least one big trophy on this surface. I haven’t done it before, so it means a lot to me.”
Alcaraz jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first set, comfortably holding serve in the opening game before converting his first break point in the second, where he executed two excellent forehands as Sinner struggled to find his first serve.
After being broken back immediately, Alcaraz had to fend off break points in the fifth and ninth games as Sinner applied pressure in a first set filled with errors that ultimately went to a tiebreak.
Alcaraz was the first to make a mistake as Sinner, who had found his serving rhythm, took a 5-2 lead only to hit a forehand into the net on set point. Fittingly, he eventually won the tiebreak 7-5 thanks to a double-fault.
In the first game of the second set, Alcaraz failed to convert two break points, allowing Sinner to escape. Alcaraz eventually gained a break advantage, but Sinner continued to apply pressure on the 22-year-old’s serve and broke back in the sixth game.
Sinner repeated the break two games later to take a 5-3 lead and served out the match in 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Source: espn.com
