Casper Ruud needed less than 48 hours to shrug off his Rome finals loss to Jannik Sinner, with the Norwegian starting strong at the ATP Geneva event with a 6-3, 7-5 opening win over Jenson Brooksby on Tuesday.

The three-time champion in the Swiss border metropolis advanced at the pre-Roland Garros tune-up with 21 winners.

Ruud won the title here in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

“This stretch of tournaments is quite a lot but they are nice tournaments and I like playing here,” the winner said.

“I like playing on clay. I try to use the clay season the most I can and every time I come to Geneva I have a good result at Roland Garros, so let’s hope to keep that tradition going.” 

The Scandinavian owns two Roland Garros finals, losing to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in Paris..

The nightmare injury scenario of Carlos Alcaraz took a grim turn on Tuesday, with the Spaniard withdrawing from Wimbledon.

The world No. 2 who last played a match more than a month ago in Barcelona, quit the grass court Grand Slam as well as the tune up event at Queen’s Club, London.

The Alcaraz wrist problem surfaced during a first round win in Barcelona and has kept the former No. 1 off court ever since while top-ranked rival Jannik Sinner soars to new records.

Alcaraz is already due to miss Roland Garros, starting on Sunday, a major which he won a year ago.”My recovery is going well and I’m feeling much better, but unfortunately I’m still not ready to compete, which is why I have to withdraw from the grass-court swing at Queen’s and Wimbledon,” Alcaraz posted on Instagram.

“They are two truly special tournaments for me and I will miss them a lot.

“We’ll keep working to come back as soon as possible.”

Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon 2025 – by Roger Parker ISF Ltd

Jannik Sinner punched his ticket for another ATP record with a 6-4, 6-4 title defeat of Casper Ruud to win the Rome Masters on Sunday, a feat which vaulted him even deeper into the game’s elite.

The Italian took a firmer grip on his world No. 1 ranking while becoming only the second man after Novak Djokovic to win a matched set of all nine Masters titles.

It took the 24-year-old only three years to accomplish that mark; it took Djokovic until age 31 to do the same.

Sinner also becomes the first Italian since Adriano Panatta in 1976 to lift the home trophy at the Foro Italico.

The four-time Grand Slam champion finished off his one and three-quarter hour defeat of Ruud with a forehand cross-court winner to the corner which the Norwegian could not handle.

The full-house Campo Centrale crowd erupted as their local hero sealed the deal.

“I’m really, really happy, there was a lot of tension (over the past few days,” the winner said after getting through some apparent physical issues in the previous two rounds.

“It was not perfect tennis from either of us today, but I’m incredibly happy. It’s been an amazing two and a half months for me.”

Sinner has claimed titles at the last all six Masters events he has played, starting last November when he won the Paris Indoors.

He then ran off five on the spin in 2026: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and now Rome. 

“I try to come out and do my best every day,” Sinner said. “And not every day is simple.”

The Italian credited his fitness team for helping him through the tough circumstances of this weather-hit week in Rome.

 “I had some very physical and tough matches. I have to thank my physical eam for trying to keep up my body.

“They are as important as the coaches.”

Sinner joins Djokovic (2018) and Rafael Nadal (2010) as the only players to win all three ATP Masters 1000 titles on clay in a season following his title wins in Monte-Carlo and Madrid – and Rome.

Sinner has now won 29 straight matches this season and has compiled 34 in a row at the Masters level dating to Paris four months ago.

He goes into the Roland Garros in a week as heavy favourite after winning Rome for the first time following his 2025 finals defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.