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

ROME (AP) — There’s only one player who is consistently beating Jannik Sinner.

Carlos Alcaraz defeated the top-ranked Sinner again, 7-6 (5), 6-1, to win his first Italian Open on Sunday and add another big clay-court title to his resume.

Since the start of last year, Alcaraz is the only player to beat Sinner more than once and now he’s done it four straight times.

“Just proud about myself, the way that I approached the match mentally. Tactically think I did it pretty well from the first to the last point,” Alcaraz said. "I maintained my level during the whole match.”

Alcaraz’s victory before Sinner’s home fans at the Foro Italico snapped the Italian’s 26-match winning streak, which stretched back to October — when Alcaraz beat him in the China Open final in a third-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz now leads the career series 7-4.

It was Sinner's first tournament back after a three-month doping ban.

“I’m just really happy to see Jannik back at this amazing level,” Alcaraz said. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him coming back from three months without playing. Making the final here is something insane.”

Alcaraz also solidified his status as the favorite to defend his title at the French Open, which starts next Sunday.

“On clay right now, you’re the best player,” Sinner said.

Added Alcaraz, “Beating Jannik, winning Rome. I think both things mixed together give you a great confidence coming to Paris. I always say that the final is not about playing, the final is about winning, to go for it. I just repeated (that to) myself all the time.”

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.”

Sinner wasted two set points on Alcaraz’s serve when he led 6-5 in the first set and then Alcaraz jumped ahead in the tiebreaker with two aces and held on to seal it before cruising in the second set.

On Alcaraz’s third match point, Sinner ran down a drop shot but Alcaraz was waiting for his reply and hit a stretch volley winner into the open court.

Alcaraz then held his hands out wide and flashed a wide smile.

Alcaraz hit 19 winners to Sinner's seven and only had one more unforced error than his opponent — 31-30. Half of Sinner's errors came from his backhand, which is usually his most dependable shot.

Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion, will move back up to No. 2 in the rankings on Monday after his third final in three clay-court events this season. He won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in the Barcelona Open before withdrawing from the Madrid Open because of injury.

Having also won the Madrid Open in 2022 and 2023, Alcaraz became the fifth man to win all three Masters 1000 clay events after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten and Marcelo Rios.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, kisses the trophy after winning the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Italian fans cheer for Jannik Sinner during a final tennis match against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Jannik Sinner of Italy, returns to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during their final tennis match in the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, returns to Jannik Sinner of Italy during their final tennis match in the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, left, and Jannik Sinner of Italy pose for the photographers after their final tennis match in the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, reacts after scoring a point against Jannik Sinner of Italy during their final tennis match in the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An independent counsel on Tuesday demanded a death sentence for former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion charges in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Removed from office last April, Yoon faces eight trials over various criminal charges related to his martial law debacle and other scandals related to his time in office. Charges that he directed a rebellion are the most significant ones.

Independent counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team requested the Seoul Central District Court to sentence Yoon to death, according to the court.

The Seoul court is expected to deliver a verdict on Yoon in February. Experts say the court likely will sentence him to life in prison. South Korea hasn't executed anyone since 1997.

Yoon was scheduled to make remarks at Tuesday's hearing. He has maintained that his decree was a desperate yet peaceful attempt to raise public awareness about what he considered the danger of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which used its legislative majority to obstruct his agenda. He called the opposition-controlled parliament “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”

Yoon’s decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, brought armed troops into Seoul streets to encircle the assembly and enter election offices. That evoked traumatic memories of dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed rulers used martial law and other emergency decrees to station soldiers and armored vehicles in public places to suppress pro-democracy protests.

On the night of Yoon's martial law declaration, thousands of people rushed to the National Assembly to object to the decree and demand his resignation in dramatic scenes. Enough lawmakers, including even those in Yoon’s ruling party, managed to enter an assembly hall to vote down the decree.

Observers described Yoon’s action as political suicide. Parliament impeached him and sent the case to the Constitutional Court, which ruled to dismiss him as president.

It was a spectacular downfall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who won South Korea’s presidency in 2022, a year after entering politics.

Lee Jae Myung, a former Democratic Party leader who led Yoon's impeachment bid, became president by winning a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to delve into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

There had been speculation that Yoon resorted to martial law to protect his wife, Kim Keon Hee, from potential corruption investigations. But in wrapping up a six-month investigation last month, independent counsel Cho’s team concluded that Yoon plotted for over a year to impose martial law to eliminate his political rivals and monopolize power.

Yoon’s decree and ensuing power vacuum plunged South Korea into political turmoil, halted the country’s high-level diplomacy and rattled its financial markets.

Yoon’s earlier vows to fight attempts to impeach and arrest him deepened the country’s political divide. In January last year, he became the country’s first sitting president to be detained.

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside of Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

FILE - Then South Korea's ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol who is facing charges of orchestrating a rebellion when he declared martial law on Dec. 3, arrives to attend his trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool, File)