The court, in the end, proved Carlos Alcaraz right, who won the 2025 edition of the Internazionali d’Italia, but Jannik Sinner certainly did not lose his smile: during the awards ceremony, the world number 1 addressed the audience directly several times, triggering an enthusiasm that resulted in the now classic stadium chorus dedicated to him.

“I have to tell the truth, I would have signed before the tournament to get to the final. First of all I want to congratulate Carlos and his team, I am sure he will be the man to beat in Paris, at the moment on clay he is the strongest. I also applaud my team, with whom I have overcome three months that were not easy; I am proud of what we are. We bring home a special trophy, even though we wanted that’other…” he then added smiling.

“For the Italians, it was a fantastic tournament: Jasmine Paolini won the singles and doubles (with Sara Errani, ed.), Lorenzo Musetti and I made it to the bottom of the men’s tournament. We are a beautiful group” said Sinner again, who in Rome faced his second career final on clay, after the one in Umag in 2022 (then won precisely against Alcaraz).

Thanking friends and family, Sinner then made a joke about his own brother that sparked laughter from the audience: “I thank my friends and family who came here… I also thank my brother who, however, preferred to be in Imola to watch Formula 1 rather than be here” he added with a laugh. “One’last thing: thanks to the’organization and the whole audience, it was fantastic, it gave me great energy: for me this tournament was a test, now we look forward”.

Carlos Alcaraz won the 2025 edition of the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome, a tournament that the Murcian won for the first time in his career. He beat Jannik Sinner, 7-6(5), 6-1, in the final on the Central Court at the Foro Italico. Inevitably directing the match was the tie-break of the first set, which came after Alcaraz had nullified two set points at 6-5. In the second fraction, the world No. 1 paid with interest for the fatigue of these intense days, in which he played six matches in quick succession after a three-month stop.

All in all, the match lasted 105 minutes: as many as 71 those of the first set, 34 those of the second, in which Alcaraz flew up to 5-0, with two games won on Sinner’s serve, before allowing the South Tyrolean to erase the zero from the scoreboard. In head-to-head matches, Alcaraz now leads 7-4 (8-4 counting also a match played at Challenger level in 2019), withm Sinner not beating him since the Beijing semifinals in 2023 and having lost the next four challenges against his rival.

The South Tyrolean champion, number 1 in the world continuously since June 10, 2024, had defeated in previous matches in Rome Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4 in the second round (he had missed the first thanks to a ‘bye’ to be among the top seeds), Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-2 in the third round, Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(2), 6-3 in the round of 16, Casper Ruud 6-0, 6-1 in the quarters and Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals.

The one played today was the second final ever on clay for Sinner, after the 2022 final in Umag, Croatia: on that occasion, too, the opponent had been Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, although on that occasion to which the current ATP No. 1 managed to win in three sets, coming back from 7-6(5) in the first set with a double 6-1.

In Shanghai (China), in the last stage of the world foil circuit before the European Championships in Genoa, Italy racked up medals, winning as many as five. Three of these, a gold and two bronze, came from the women&#8217s competitions, while the men&#8217s tournaments gave the Italian team one silver and one bronze medal.

Winning the gold on the platform of the Chinese megalopolis was Martina Favaretto, who overcame the American Lee Kiefer in the final with a score of 15-11. In the same competition Arianna Errigo and Martina Batini won bronze, stopping short of the two finalists (Errigo was beaten by Favaretto, Batini by Kiefer).

He only came close to the final success, still winning an excellent silver medal, Tommaso Marini, who in the men&#8217s tournament climbed all the way to the final act, but was defeated by Choi, an athlete from Hong Kong, 15-12, not before defeating two-time Olympic champion Cheung (also from Hong Kong) with a score of 15-13.

It was precisely against Choi that Giulio Lombardi stopped: the 15-9 final nevertheless left him on the lowest step of the podium, no small satisfaction on the eve of the continental engagement. Now for the Italian foil fencers it is time to think about the European Championships: the continental review will be held at home, in Genoa, from June 14 to 19 and will be anticipated by the Italian Championships scheduled in Piacenza a few days earlier, from 5 to 10.