Carlos Alcaraz appears to have Jannik Sinner’s number after beating him for the fourth successive match.
The pair squared off in Sunday’s Italian Open final with both aiming to win the title for the first time.
Sinner had the support of his home fans at the Foro Italico, but it was not enough to stop the rampant Spaniard.
Alcaraz claimed a 7-6, 6-1 win and in the process completed the set of Masters 1000 trophies on clay ahead of his French Open title defence.
Why does Rennae Stubbs think Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner on clay?
Carlos Alcaraz has now won seven of the 11 matches he has played against Jannik Sinner.
Following a tight first set in Rome, Alcaraz reminded everyone of what he is capable of when at his best, as he dismantled Sinner in set two, silencing the Rome crowd.
Alcaraz has raised his level since the clay court season. The 21-year-old has suffered just one defeat on the surface so far this season, and he is looking very strong heading into Paris for his title defence at Roland Garros.
For the second successive meeting Alcaraz has beaten Sinner on clay following their French Open semi-final which he claimed in five sets.
Following their clash in Rome, Rennae Stubbs used her podcast to share a theory on why Alcaraz is winning his clay court matches with Sinner at present.
“I would say it’s kind of like a Roger-Rafa thing, to a lesser degree because Roger had a one handed backhand and Rafa was the greatest clay court player of all time,” she said.
“Alcaraz is a better natural athlete and that’s coming from Jannik, who is an incredible athlete. He is a world class skier. For his height nobody moves better. He is an unbelievable mover. But he is not as good.
“He is taller, his centre of gravity on clay is not as good, his sliding ability is not as good because he has to move differently.
“Alcaraz has a lower centre of gravity, he is a natural mover on clay, and he has way more variety. Alcaraz can hit the ball big but he chooses not to on clay because he chooses not to. He hits the spin, he has more spin so it gets out of Sinner’s hitting zone more.
“He is tall so he can kind of get away with it a little bit. But it’s the drop shot, it’s the coming into the net, it’s the sliding and the slice backhand. It’s just the variety.”
Rennae Stubbs says Jannik Sinner made a ‘bad decision’ against Carlos Alcaraz in the Italian Open final
Sinner reached the Italian Open final in what was his first tournament in three months following his doping ban.
He did not drop a set until the final against Alcaraz, and the World number one lost the opening set via a tiebreak.
Reflecting on the match, Stubbs thinks Sinner made an error that contributed to him losing the first set, a set the Australian thinks he should have won.
“Jannik should have won the first set and the point at 30-40 was a bad decision from Sinner,” she said. “He had a backhand. I don’t know why he tried to hit it down the line. He bailed out of that point!
“Now credit, he hasn’t played much in three months and it must have felt like three years. The fact he got to the final was incredible, the fact he beat Ruud 0 and 1. Ruud just won Madrid!”
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