Sinner beats Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(5), 6-3 on April 12 to win the Monte-Carlo Masters and move back to world No. 1. (atptour.com) The final was the first Sinner-Alcaraz meeting of 2026, and the ranking swing was immediate: ATP updated the standings on April 13 with Sinner back at No. 1 after the title run. (atptour.com) Monte-Carlo is the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the European clay season, the stretch that leads into Rome and then the French Open in Paris. Sinner had never won a Masters 1000 title on clay before Sunday. (atptour.com) Alcaraz arrived as the defending champion after winning Monte-Carlo in 2025, and he opened the final with an early break before Sinner pulled the first set into a tiebreak. Sinner then won the last five games of the match in windy conditions on Court Rainier III. (atptour.com) The ranking change also extended a season-long trend. ATP said on April 13 that Sinner became only the second man after Novak Djokovic in 2015 to win the first three ATP Masters 1000 events of a season. (atptour.com) That run matters on clay because Alcaraz has been the more established force on the surface, with the 2025 Monte-Carlo title already on his résumé before this week. Sinner’s win gave him his eighth Masters 1000 title overall and his first at Monte-Carlo. (atptour.com) Sinner’s path through the event underlined how strong his spring has been. He beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals, then carried that form into the final against Alcaraz. (atptour.com) For Alcaraz, the loss ended a title defense and cost him the top ranking a week before the tour shifts deeper into the clay calendar. For Sinner, Monte-Carlo turned a rivalry match into the new order at the top of men’s tennis. (atptour.com)