Jannik Sinner edges Carlos Alcaraz to clinch Monte Carlo Masters crown

Sinner came into the first clay court ATP Masters 1000 event of the season knowing a victory would take him back to the top of the rankings and he got over the winning line with an edgy 7-6(5), 6-3 victory.

There was some great tennis mixed in with plenty of mistakes from the best two players in the world, with the tension of facing each other when so much was on the line pushing both players out of their comfort zone.

Alcaraz beat Sinner in an epic French Open final last year and while this latest meeting on clay was not quite sublime from a quality perspective, it was

"Hard court, grass, clay court, the same," said Alcaraz, as he greeted Sinner at the net. He backed up those words with a final note of congratulations as he added: "Great job."

The head-to-head record between these two great champions is now 10-7 in favour of Alcaraz, but Sinner appears to have all the momentum right now as he backed up his wins in the Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments last month win a fine win on clay.

The win secured Sinner a bumper 974,370 euro in prize money and the world number one ranking, with Alcaraz taking home 532,120 euro after he came up short of defending his title in Monte Carlo.

"I don't know where to start," said Sinner. "The result is amazing. Getting back to No 1 means a lot to me, but the ranking is secondary.

"I am happy to win one big trophy on this surface that I haven't done before. It means a lot to me. I felt close on the return games and I just tried to stay there mentally. I just kept pushing, kept pushing. I felt a bit tired, but having this trophy now means a lot to me."

The win sees Sinner return to the top of the ATP Rankings and he also becomes just the second player born since the inaugural  ATP Tour season in 1990 to defeat world No 1 in finals on multiple surfaces after this win against Alcaraz.

He has also become just the second player to win Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo in a season after Novak Djokovic in 2015 and will fancy his chance of adding more clay court tiles to his record after this success.

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