Battle for the Ages on Roman Soil
The dream final will take centre stage in Rome, when World No. 1 Jannik Sinner takes on a familiar foe in the form of four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz. Both players are looking to capture their first trophy here at the 2025 Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday. As a scintillating rivalry gets its newest chapter, who will stamp his authority on the ATP circuit in this David vs Goliath encounter at the Eternal City?
“He has more matches under his belt this season, but it doesn’t matter because in a final anything can happen,” Jannik Sinner said ahead of the titanic tussle. It will be the first meeting between the two next-gen stars in a Masters-1000 final. The World No. 1 started the year with a championship run at the Australian Open, and is currently on a 26-match unbeaten run. After a dominant performance against Casper Ruud in the quarterfinal, he showed signs of rust vs Tommy Paul in the final four stage.
While Sinner is possibly going through some physical issues, Carlos Alcaraz has bounced back from a Madrid Open withdrawal with aplomb. The 22-year-old has beaten Sinner in their last three battles, and dropped just one set en route to the summit clash. Both men are contesting their 25th tour-level final – while Sinner has a 10-1 clay court record over the past year, Alcaraz has gone 26-2.
Carlos Alcaraz leads the head to head record against Jannik Sinner by 6-4 so far. Sunday’s final will be their first encounter in 2025, and the first in a Masters-1000 final.
Rated as the two flag-bearers of tennis for years to come, Sinner and Alcaraz have given fans some of the most enthralling matches in recent times. It is a rivalry that originated at the 2021 Paris Masters, which the Paris Olympics silver medalist won in two tight sets. Since then, the duo kept winning thrilling duels in pairs, until Alcaraz pulled away in 2024.
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Having faced each other twice on outdoor clay before, the face-off on this surface is 1-1. This will also be the third time these former teen sensations lock horns in a final. The most recent Alcaraz-Sinner episode produced one of the matches of the year – in the final of Beijing 2024.
| Event | Round | Winner | Score |
| 2024 Beijing | Final | Carlos Alcaraz | 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3) |
| 2024 Roland Garros | Semifinal | Carlos Alcaraz | 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 |
| 2024 Indian Wells | Semifinal | Carlos Alcaraz | 1-6 6-3 6-2 |
| 2023 Beijing | Semifinal | Jannik Sinner | 7-6(4) 6-1 |
| 2023 Miami | Semifinal | Jannik Sinner | 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 |
| 2023 Indian Wells | Semifinal | Carlos Alcaraz | 7-6(4) 6-3 |
| 2022 US Open | Quarterfinal | Carlos Alcaraz | 6-3 6-7(7) 6-7(0) 7-5 6-3 |
| 2022 Umag | Final | Jannik Sinner | 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1 |
| 2022 Wimbledon | Round of 16 | Jannik Sinner | 6-1 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3 |
| 2021 Paris Masters | Round of 32 | Carlos Alcaraz | 7-6(1) 7-5 |
| Jannik Sinner | Category | Carlos Alcaraz |
| 3 | Grand Slams | 4 |
| 19 | ATP Singles Titles | 18 |
| 1 | ATP Doubles Titles | 0 |
| 4 | Masters-1000 Titles | 6 |
| 5 | ATP-500 Titles | 6 |
| – | Olympics Best Performance | Silver (Paris 2024) |
| No. 1 | Current World Ranking | No. 3 |
When a boulder meets a brick wall, they can only be separated by a strand of hair. Alcaraz will use a plethora of slow-paced shots – including slices, drops, and elevated top spin forehands. For the Italian, keeping the points short will be of vital importance in this slugfest. We predict the crowd to have the final say, as Sinner will feed off the energy from the Italian cauldron.
Prediction: Jannik Sinner in three sets.
Hours before they step into a cinematic Campo Centrale experience, Jannik Sinner leads the pre-match charts. He goes into the encounter with a 58% chance of success. The betting markets have tipped over slightly in favour of the top seed.
Jannik Sinner Win: -140
Carlos Alcaraz Win: +120
(According to BetMGM)
