Jannik Sinner made history in front of Casper Ruud in Rome on Sunday.
Sinner took down Ruud in the final to become just the second player, after Novak Djokovic, to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 events, a feat known as the Career Golden Masters.
It also marked Sinner’s sixth straight title at that level, a run stretching back to Paris 2025.
Sinner had just come through a tough semifinal against Daniil Medvedev, and many expected him to drop a set against clay specialist Ruud. But the world number one stayed composed throughout and came away with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
The Norwegian was far from his best that day, and according to Brad Gilbert, Coco Gauff’s former coach, he looked more drained than usual.
Brad Gilbert weighs in on Casper Ruud’s showing in the Rome final
Speaking on ‘The Big T Podcast’, Gilbert said: “A couple of things for Ruud awakening that I thought was uncharacteristic.
“One, he’s normally very relaxed on the court, and he started actually barking at the camp a little bit, and his dad a little bit. That was like, you’re not used to seeing that.
“And I felt like he got off to a good start being patient. But the reason why I say uncharacteristically is his game is about serve and find that first ball forehand.
“And I thought he settled to go backhand to backhand with Sinner, and obviously Sinner’s backhand is not as good as his forehand. But I felt like he should have, early on, tried to find the forehand, which he did all tournament.
“Do you know, he didn’t have one of the 10 sets that he won during the tournament, go past 6-4. He was dominating guys, and he’s dominating guys with the forehand.
“So when he had those couple of patient rallies going, I thought he should have been on his bicycle and tried to go big on the forehand. Be a little more unpredictable, patient, and then still use your strength.
“So I felt like maybe he got this little lead, and you know, as a player, when you’re zero and four against somebody, you haven’t won a set, maybe your first thought is, you hope you don’t get crushed, because remember last year there, he got crushed.
“But I feel like maybe the good start got him to think, ‘Oh, I could win like this.’ And Sinner said, ‘No, not so fast.’”
Rome final run moves Casper Ruud back into the ATP top 20
Ruud slipped out of the world’s top 20 for the first time since 2021 after failing to defend his Madrid Open title in April.
While he spent much of the past five years inside the top ten, there’s been a gradual decline more recently.
The Norwegian moved up from 25th to 17th in the world rankings following his run to the Rome final, putting him back inside the top 20.
He’ll hope to build on that momentum at this week’s Geneva Open, which serves as a warm-up ahead of Roland Garros.
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