Jannik Sinner’s Italian Open title hopes crushed by strange observation

Jannik Sinner is aiming to become the second and fastest man to win the Career Golden Masters with a victory at the Italian Open this weekend, but a bizarre observation could derail his title hopes.

Sinner prevailed in today’s tense three-setter against a recently rejuvenated Daniil Medvedev, after heavy rain disrupted their semi-final battle yesterday.

The Italian has now beaten Novak Djokovic’s record of consecutive Masters 1000 wins, claiming 33 successive victories that date back to the Paris Open last October.

He also became the first Italian man to reach back-to-back Rome finals — after losing last year’s Italian Open final to a currently injured Carlos Alcaraz — in almost 70 years, last achieved by Nicole Pietrangeli in 1958.

The 24-year-old is now looking to become the second and youngest man to achieve the Career Golden Masters, winning all nine Masters 1000 tournaments, after Djokovic completed it in 2018.

If Sinner prevails at the Italian Open on Sunday against Casper Ruud, he will become, by a stretch, the youngest man to achieve the feat, but a hilariously strange observation made during today’s match by Brett Haber on Tennis Channel could lower his title chances.

Jannik Sinner has only dropped sets to this specific group of players in 2026

The 24-year-old has only dropped sets in 2026 to players with red, white and blue in the flags of their home countries.

This first occurred at the Australian Open in January, dropping his first set of the tournament to America’s Eliot Spizzirri, then again when he lost in the tournament’s semi-finals to Serbian-born Novak Djokovic.

Since then, Sinner has either dropped sets or lost to only the following players: Czechia’s Jakub Menšik and Tomaš Machač, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and France’s Benjamin Bonzi.

Menšik, the only player besides Djokovic to beat the prolific Italian in 2026, is renowned for wearing the colours of his country’s flag with his tour outfits.

Sinner’s Italian Open final opponent is the Norwegian Ruud, whose country’s flag comprises those three exact colours.

The 2023 Roland Garros finalist is renowned as a clay court specialist, and is in lightning hot form heading into his clash against Sinner tomorrow.

According to Haber, who first noticed the bizarre trend in opponents capable of worrying the Italian in 2026, perhaps Ruud’s strongest attribute lies not in his form, but in the colours of his country’s flag.

Ruud has dropped just one set so far at the Italian Open en-route to the final, against Karen Khachanov in the tournament's quarter-finals — the same number of sets lost as the Italian despite being placed 24 positions lower than him in the ATP Rankings.

Sinner previously won both the Madrid and Monte Carlo Masters 1000 finals without relinquishing a set, dominating third-ranked Alexander Zverev in the former and prevailing in a narrower victory against long-time rival Carlos Alcaraz in the latter.

The 24-year-old also became the second man in history to reach the final of all three clay court Masters events in the same season, first achieved by Rafael Nadal, the surface's greatest ever player, in 2007, then again in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

The World #1 heads into the Italian Open final with yet another legacy-defining achievement on the line, hoping to accomplish the Career Golden Masters, but only time will tell if Casper Ruud's form, and his country's flag's colours, can stop him.