Monte Carlo: Sinner claims double glory in the Principality

The clay‑court season could hardly have started better. After a vibrant week of tennis on the Rock – highlighted by the remarkable run of crowd favourite Valentin Vacherot – Jannik Sinner emerged victorious in the final against his greatest rival, Carlos Alcaraz. A triumph that earned him both the princely crown and the top spot in the world rankings.

Sinner, No.1 and Masters 1000’s boss

Jannik Sinner’s supporters were unsure what to expect when he arrived in Monte‑Carlo. Riding high after an extraordinary Sunshine Double, the Italian was keen to use the Monaco tournament as a steppingstone on clay, a surface he has mastered increasingly well, but on which he had claimed just one professional title until now, in Umag in 2022. Last season, in Rome and then at Roland-Garros, he had been stopped in the final by Carlos Alcaraz, untouchable in Italy and heroic in Paris. This Sunday, on that familiar final hurdle, Sinner finally managed to rewrite the script and secure a double reward of the highest order.

Impressively launched into his campaign with a commanding win over Ugo Humbert, he then experienced a slight dip in the round of 16 against Tomas Machac, dropping a set and ending a remarkable streak of 37 consecutive Masters 1000 sets won. A brief warning that was quickly erased thanks to emphatic victories over Félix Auger‑Aliassime and Alexander Zverev, setting up a showdown with the defending champion. Their 17th meeting brought together two titans with strikingly similar trajectories (in their careers as well as in Monaco: identical court time through their first four rounds, 26 titles apiece, the same number of weeks spent at the top of the rankings and so on). A clash full of promises that were duly delivered.

The contest between the Spaniard, unbeaten in 17 consecutive clay‑court matches, and the Italian, riding a 16‑match winning streak in 2026, ultimately tilted in favour of the one in irresistible form. Despite conceding early breaks in both sets, the protégé of Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill relied on his power, anticipation, precision and speed to neutralize his opponent’s spectacular game and seize control from the return. By winning the last five games of the match, he brought the contest to a close without taking it to a deciding set so eagerly hoped for by spectators and viewers in this first titanic duel of the 2026 season (7-6(3), 6-3 in 2h15).

That 24th victory of the season – his 17th in a row and 22nd consecutive win at Masters 1000 level – made Sinner only the second player in history to win the first three tournaments of this category in a single season, after Novak Djokovic in 2015, and the third to claim four Masters 1000 titles in succession, alongside Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

This 27th career title also sees him return to world No.1, a position he had not held since his triumph at the Rolex Paris Masters. “It has been an interesting week trying to learn how to play again on clay,” he said modestly after the match. “We came here trying to get as many matches as possible, getting good feedback before other big tournaments coming up. Was a high level from both of us… The result is amazing. Getting back to No.1 means a lot for me. I am very happy to win a big title on this surface. I haven't done it before, and it means a lot to me.”

There could hardly be a better way to prepare for the challenges ahead. And judging by what they both displayed on the Principality, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz may well cross paths again on the Masters 1000 road that leads all the way to Roland‑Garros…