Alcaraz beats Sinner again to win the Italian Open and solidify his status as French Open favorite

Alcaraz spoils Sinner’s return

Sinner was playing his first tournament since he won his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

In February, Sinner agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised questions, since the three-month suspension allowed him not to miss any Grand Slams, and come back at his home tournament.

Sinner said he and his team went through “three months that were anything but easy, so achieving this result already here is really big” and that “we should be really proud.”

He added: “We’re bringing home a very special trophy, even if I wanted the other one.”

Sinner was attempting to become the first home man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976. He was also trying to complete a sweep of the Rome singles titles for Italy after Jasmine Paolini won the women’s trophy on Saturday.

Paolini and partner Sara Errani also defended their women’s doubles title earlier Sunday, making Paolini the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990 to sweep Rome’s singles and doubles titles in the same year.

A large number of the 10,500 fans in Campo Centrale were decked out in orange — Sinner’s theme color — and they were chanting Sinner’s name before the match even began, and even after Sinner lost.

“You gave me a lot of energy, lot of courage to be here on court, I tried with everything I had,” Sinner told the crowd. “It was something very, very special. Thank you.”

Sinner also cracked a joke about offering “special thanks” to his brother, Mark, “who instead of being here, decided to go to Imola to watch Formula 1.”