Alcaraz claims first Cincinnati crown after Sinner retires

● Spaniard wins eighth ATP Masters 1000 trophy, most of any active player besides Djokovic

Carlos Alcaraz won his sixth title of the season at the Cincinnati Open on Monday after fierce rival Jannik Sinner was forced to retire after just 23 minutes into their championship-match clash.

Looking out of sorts in the sweltering heat, defending champion Sinner called for the doctor after surrendering a 0-5 lead in the opening set, but he was unable to continue.

With his 22nd tour-level trophy, Alcaraz also strengthened push for Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF — an honour he last held in 2022. He leads Sinner by 1,890 points in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

“I’m super, super sorry to disappoint you,” Sinner said to the fans. “From yesterday I didn’t feel great. I thought that I would improve during the night, but it came up worse. I tried to come out, tried to make it at least a small match, but I couldn’t handle more, so I’m very sorry.”

With defeat, Sinner’s 26-match winning streak on hard courts comes to an end, and he now faces a quick recovery ahead of his US Open title defence.

The World No. 1’s participation in the mixed doubles event, in which he is set to compete with Katerina Siniakova on Tuesday, may now be in question.

“This is not the way that I want to win trophies, I just have to say sorry, I can understand how you must feel now,” Alcaraz said to Sinner.

“As I said many times, you are a true champion and I am sure from these situations, you are going to come back even stronger, as you always do. That’s what true champions do. I’m sorry and come back stronger.”

Alcaraz let slip a championship point before falling to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 final, which is widely regarded as one of the most thrilling ATP Tour matches in history. But the 22-year-old Spaniard now has his hands on the trophy in Ohio, which is his eighth ATP Masters 1000 title, the most of any active player besides Novak Djokovic (40).

With a tour-leading 54 wins and six titles in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, Alcaraz will head to the US Open, which could have huge ramifications in his battle with Sinner for the World No. 1 spot. As Sinner is defending champion at Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz will start with a 50-point lead in the PIF ATP Live Rankings once their points from the 2024 US Open are removed.

After snapping a five-match tour-level losing streak against Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Sinner was aiming to score back-to-back wins over his rival for the first time since 2023.

However, Alcaraz can now look to a 9-5 lead in their riveting Lexus ATP Head2Head series, which features four consecutive finals this season in Rome, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Cincinnati.

By winning his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season, following triumphs in Monte-Carlo and Rome, Alcaraz extended his winning streak at that level to 17 matches. [atptour.com]