How Carlos Alcaraz ended an astonishing Jannik Sinner streak to preserve Roger Federer record
With his statement victory in the 2025 Italian Open final, Carlos Alcaraz achieved something no player had managed against Jannik Sinner in the last 18 months.
The four-time major winner’s straight-set victory in Rome was his fourth consecutive win against Sinner and improved his head-to-head lead over his biggest rival to 7-4.
Prior to this, Sinner had not tasted defeat since he lost to Alcaraz in the 2024 Beijing final at the start of October.
The world No 1 was on a 26-match winning streak that included title wins in Shanghai, at the ATP Finals in Turin, and at the Australian Open
There was, though, an even more remarkable Sinner run that Alcaraz brought to an end with his 7-6(5), 6-1 triumph in Rome.
Remarkably, Sinner won at least one set in each of the previous 94 matches he had played before Alcaraz’s decisive win.
The 23-year-old Italian had not lost a match in straight sets since he fell 3-6, 3-6 to Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin.
During this astonishing streak, Sinner won nine titles and also led Italy to glory at the Davis Cup Finals in both 2023 and 2024.
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What Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner said to each other after Italian Open final
Sinner amassed a 88-6 record during the run, with three of his defeats inflicted by Alcaraz.
Since the creation of the ATP Tour in 1990, the only man who has played more consecutive matches without losing in straight sets is Roger Federer — Sinner’s idol.
Federer won at least a single set in 194 successive matches during a mind-blowing stretch between 2004 and 2006. The Swiss legend lost just 10 matches during this run — five of which were against his great rival Rafael Nadal.
Following the Italian Open final, Sinner was asked what made the difference.
“Yeah, difference? First set for sure was a little bit of a game-changer,” the three-time Grand Slam champion assessed.
“But talking general, very happy about this tournament. It gives me then hopefully confidence to play some good tennis also in Paris. Let’s see what’s coming out there.
“But yeah, after three months coming here making this result means a lot to me, a lot to my team also. We worked a lot to be here. Happy also with my family and everything. So yeah, happens like today. But for sure it’s a good lesson then for Paris.”
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