Aces & Faults from Rome
Ace: Jannik Sinner is on top of the tennis world. He won his home tournament in Rome, the last Masters 1000 he needed to complete the set of all nine. He has won every 1000-level tournament so far this year and has won six in a row overall. Heading into Roland Garros, he is the uncontested favorite as he continued his dominance of the ATP Tour in Rome. He dropped only one set in a close semifinal against Daniil Medvedev, but other than that it was straight-set wins across the board for Sinner even as he struggled physically at some points. Sinner hasn’t lost a match since February and looks completely unstoppable.
Fault: Last year, Jasmine Paolini won the title in Rome in both singles and doubles but couldn’t back up either result this year. In singles, Paolini fell in three sets in the third round to Elise Mertens, and later in the week she withdrew from doubles with Sara Errani. Paolini is still in the top 10 of the WTA doubles rankings but has fallen out of the top 10 in singles.
Ace: Eight years after her last big title, Elina Svitolina was a champion once again and did it in an incredibly impressive fashion. Svitolina defeated second seed Elena Rybakina, fourth seed Iga Swiatek, and third seed Coco Gauff in close three-setters in her run to the title. Playing bold tennis throughout, Svitolina’s break point saves stood out in all of her wins as she propelled herself further into the top 10 and now sits at #3 in the year-end race. For the third time in her career, Svitolina is the Rome champion and undoubtedly one of the best players in the world right now.
Fault: Top seed Aryna Sabalenka suffered a rare early exit as she fell in three sets in her opening match. Sabalenka was dealing with a lower-back issue for some of the match, but still nearly managed to claw her way back in the third set before eventually falling to Sorana Cirstea. Going into an already open Roland Garros, this is an unwelcome setback for Sabalenka.
Ace: After failing to defend his points in Madrid, Casper Ruud fell out of the top 20, but made his way right back in with a run to the final in Rome. Ruud notched upsets over 11th seed Jiri Lehecka, eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, 13th seed Karen Khachanov, and 18th seed Luciano Darderi in his run. It was a mix of straight-set victories and turbulent wins, but Ruud got it done no matter the type of match. He was unable to overcome Sinner in the final, but that far from discounts the quality of his tennis this week.
Fault: As is becoming a concerning norm, Lorenzo Musetti looked solid at the start of the tournament but was hampered by injury in a match against a high-quality opponent. It was smooth sailing for Musetti as he defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets, but in the round of 16 he struggled to compete against Ruud. Musetti later confirmed that he was dealing with a thigh injury and that he will miss Roland Garros — a huge blow as Musetti made the semifinals there last year and also picked up an injury in that match, which forced him to miss all of the 2025 grass season. This trend in Musetti’s career is only continuing and could hold him back from future success.
Ace: Before this week, Luciano Darderi had never made it past the third round of a Masters 1000. In Rome, he made the semifinals and did it with a series of monumental wins. He got the ball rolling with an upset over 16th seed Tommy Paul, then defeated second seed Alexander Zverev. Darderi lost the first set against Zverev 6-1 and saved four match points in a second-set tiebreak before winning the third set 6-0 for the biggest win of his career. He notched another 6-0 third set in his late-night quarterfinal match against Rafael Jodar, but couldn’t keep up any longer in his semifinal match, where he lost to Ruud. It was a breakout run on a big stage for Darderi, made all the more special at his home tournament.
Fault: Since winning the title in Rotterdam back in February, Alex de Minaur has won just four matches and continued his poor run of form with a second-round exit in Rome. De Minaur fell in three sets to Matteo Arnaldi, a player who needed a wildcard to even get into the main draw of his home tournament. After a crucial break back toward the end of the third set, de Minaur was broken to love and Arnaldi managed to serve out the match, sending de Minaur home early once again. After a strong start to the season, de Minaur has looked completely lost on court the last few months.
Ace: Sorana Cirstea is making the most of her retirement year and reached her best result at a big tournament on clay with a semifinal run here. The highlight of her week was defeating Sabalenka, fending off the World #1 even as Sabalenka nearly overcame her injury issues. Cirstea also upset 13th seed Linda Noskova and defeated Jelena Ostapenko, sealing that win with a 7-0 second-set tiebreak. Cirstea eventually fell to Gauff in the semifinals, but it was a run that even had her considering postponing her retirement.
Fault: Fifth seed Ben Shelton made it back-to-back opening round losses in clay 1000s as he fell to Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round. Shelton grabbed the second set in a tiebreak, but the rest of the match was far from his best. Clay season looked promising for Shelton after his triumph in Munich, but his poor results leading up to Roland Garros leave his clay court game with more questions than answers.
Ace: Bouncing back from an early loss in Madrid, Jessica Pegula made the Rome quarterfinals with relative ease, including a dominant three 6-0 sets in a row. The first came in the second set of her opening match against Zeynep Sonmez, where Pegula didn’t even face a break point in a perfect performance. Then in the third round, Pegula notched a 6-0 6-0 win over Rebeka Masarova, barely dropping a point on serve. Her run came to an end with a loss to Swiatek in the quarterfinals, but Pegula still showcased an impressive and commanding level in her run.
Fault: Following tournament after tournament of a strong comeback, doubt settled back in for Arthur Fils as he was forced to retire in his opening match of the tournament. Fils later confirmed that it was a move of caution as he looks ahead to Roland Garros, but injury has been a dampening factor in his career recently and the retirement was a concerning moment.
Ace: This week, the rise continued for Rafael Jodar. Seeded 32nd after a series of strong results on clay, Jodar made it to the quarterfinals and rose to a new career high of #29 in the world. Jodar guaranteed his status as a seeded player for Roland Garros — a tournament during which he was barely in the top 1000 last year. Jodar’s run came to an end with a loss to Darderi, but even still Jodar pushed the match to three sets when it very much could have been a straight-set loss. Right now the only way to go is up for Jodar, and he is taking full advantage.
Fault: Felix Auger-Aliassime continued a disappointing clay season as he lost his opening match against Mariano Navone in straight tiebreak sets. The fourth seed here and the projected fourth seed for Roland Garros, Auger-Aliassime hasn’t been playing to the standard of his ranking and couldn’t take advantage of a fairly open quarter. Auger-Aliassime has shown in the past that he can compete on clay, but this year his clay-court level is far from his best.
Ace: Just two weeks after notching the biggest win of his career, Dino Prizmic outdid himself with a second-round defeat of Novak Djokovic. Djokovic took a dominant first set but struggled physically in the second, and Prizmic took advantage to pull off the upset. Djokovic tends to find a way to victory in this sort of match, but Prizmic didn’t let up, especially in the third set where he converted his lone break point and didn’t face any break points on his own serve. Prizmic went on to make the round of 16, his best result yet at a Masters 1000.