Carlos Alcaraz won his sixth title of the season at the Cincinnati Open on Monday after fierce rival Jannik Sinner was forced to retire early in the first set into their championship-match clash.
The final would last just 23 minutes as the top-ranked and top-seeded Sinner unable to play on due to illness. Only five games into the match, the Italian informed chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani that he could not continue. The final tally, 5-0, ret., gives Alcaraz the eighth ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.
As the defending champion, Sinner was bidding to become the first player to go back-to-back here since Roger Federer in 2014-15. It marks only the second time in the Open Era that a player has retired in the Cincinnati men’s final. Novak Djokovic was forced to retire in 2013 due to a shoulder injury trailing, 6-4, 3-0.
The title is Alcaraz’s first in Cincinnati. In 2023, he squandered a championship point against Djokovic, dropping a three-hour, 49-minute, 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(4) epic that still stands as the longest best-of-three-sets final in ATP Tour history. He is the third Spaniard to claim the men’s title after Carlos Moya (2002) and Rafael Nadal (2013).
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. With his 22nd tour-level trophy, Alcaraz also strengthened his push for Year-End No. 1 he last held in 2022. He leads Sinner by 1,890 points in the ATP Live Race To Turin, according to ATP stats.
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.
With a Tour-leading 54 wins and six titles in 2025, Alcaraz will head to the US Open, which could have huge ramifications in his battle with Sinner for the World No. 1 spot.
Alcaraz now owns 13 Big Titles — a combination of Grand Slam championships, trophies at the Nitto ATP Finals and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and Olympic singles gold medals — and has claimed eight ATP Masters 1000 trophies, more than any active player besides Novak Djokovic (40).
Swiatek downs Paolini to claim first Cincinnati Open title
Iga Swiatek captured her first Cincinnati Open title on Monday by beating Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-4, with the Pole third seed sending a powerful message ahead of the U.S. Open.
The six-times Grand Slam winner did not drop a set on her way to the title and was clinical in the final, converting all six of her break points to clinch her 11th WTA 1000 crown and first since last year’s Italian Open.
She is now the second all-time winner in the WTA 1000 format history, trailing only Serena Williams (23).
Paolini made the brighter start, surging to a 3-0 lead and pushing Swiatek to the brink of a double break. Yet the Pole responded with a five-game run and, after squandering her first chance to serve out the opening set, closed it on her second attempt.
Swiatek carried her momentum into the second set, saving two break points at 4-3 before holding firm to move within one game of the title. She sealed victory at the first opportunity with a big serve, extending her perfect record against the Italian to 6–0.
The win ensures Wimbledon champion Swiatek will climb back to world number two, securing the second seed for the final major of the year at Flushing Meadows, where singles action begins on Sunday.
Swiatek is also set to team up with Norway’s Casper Ruud in the new U.S. Open mixed doubles event.