What happened the last time Jannik Sinner lost in straight sets before the Italian Open final – and what took place after that

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Carlos Alcaraz won his second Masters 1000 title of the season after beating Jannik Sinner in the Italian Open final.

Alcaraz defeated Sinner on Campo Centrale to win a maiden Rome title, and has now won every ATP Masters 1000 clay event at the age of 22.

Sinner‘s 26-match winning streak came to an end with the loss to the Spaniard, who earned a seventh victory over his rival on Sunday.

The Italian Open champion sealed the match in straight sets, which hadn’t been done against Sinner since 2023.

Carlos Alcaraz becomes the first player in 546 days to beat Jannik Sinner in straight sets

With his victory, Alcaraz became the first player to defeat Sinner in straight sets since Novak Djokovic in November 2023.

Djokovic overcame Sinner in the final of the ATP Finals, winning 6-3, 6-3 to win the year-end tournament for the seventh time.

The Serb, who had lost to his final opponent in the group stage, put an end to the Italian’s impressive run at the tournament.

Fourth seed Sinner had earned statement victories against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev to advance to the final, but couldn’t find an answer for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

Jannik Sinner’s dominance since losing to Novak Djokovic at the 2023 ATP Finals

In his next tournament after losing to Djokovic at the ATP Finals, Sinner went on to win his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

He then emerged victorious at the Rotterdam Open, before making the semi-final of Indian Wells, where he ultimately fell to Alcaraz over three sets.

In the second half of the ‘sunshine double’, he tore through the draw to clinch his third title of the season, dropping just one set at the tournament.

Sinner’s clay swing last year featured two semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters and Roland Garros, where he picked up a total of three sets in losses to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz, respectively.

After winning the Halle Open, the 23-year-old made the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and the Canada Open, before winning the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open.

Following his loss to Alcaraz in the China Open final after triumphing at Flushing Meadows, Sinner didn’t lose a match for over seven months, until he finally fell in the Eternal City on Sunday.