Sinner Eyes French Open After Italian Open Final Loss

ROME — World No. 1 Jannik Sinner said his loss in the Italian Open final on Sunday offered a “good lesson” as he sets his sights on the upcoming French Open in Paris.

Sinner, 23, was defeated by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, ending his 26-match winning streak and marking Alcaraz’s fourth consecutive win over the Italian.

“First set for sure was a little bit of a game-changer,” Sinner said. “But talking general, very happy about this tournament. It gives me then hopefully confidence to play some good tennis also in Paris.”

The Rome tournament marked Sinner’s return to competition following a three-month doping ban, during which he served a suspension after twice testing positive in March 2024 for clostebol, a banned substance he and authorities acknowledged was accidentally ingested.

“After three months coming here making this result means a lot to me,” Sinner said. “It’s something very, very special playing here in Italy, in Rome. They pick me up like a small child, no? The support was amazing.”

Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January, hadn’t played competitively since lifting that title.

While he initially planned to compete in Hamburg next week, he now intends to rest ahead of Roland Garros to mentally reset and prepare.

“I played the maximum of matches here in Rome, which is very good,” Sinner said. “Now I have one week off, which is good for me. A couple of days to switch off mentally, and then being ready for an even more important tournament.”

Despite having two set points in the opening set with Alcaraz serving at 5-6, Sinner was unable to convert and saw the match quickly turn in favor of the Spaniard.

“If I would go back, I would play a couple of points in different way, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m lacking some matches… There’s no excuses, though.”

The final result extended Alcaraz’s head-to-head lead to 7-4, including a five-set thriller in last year’s Roland Garros semifinals.

Sinner acknowledged areas for improvement but praised the overall quality of his return to the ATP Tour.

“Some matches I played incredibly well, some matches could be better,” he said. “But this is tennis. It’s a lot of ups and downs… Everything together, it was a good, good tournament.”

Sinner remains a favorite at Roland Garros, where he hopes to carry the momentum and lessons learned in Rome to his pursuit of a third Grand Slam title.