The message arrived hours after match point. On social media, Novak Djokovic acknowledged Jannik Sinner's feat with a champion's grace: "Welcome to the exclusive club."

By defeating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the Rome Masters 1000 final on Sunday May 17, Sinner became the second player in history to complete the Career Golden Masters, holding all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles. Only Djokovic had achieved this before, at Cincinnati in 2018, after more than a decade of dominance.

The tribute carries extra weight when considering the speed of Sinner's accomplishment. Djokovic needed eleven years between his first Masters title in Miami (2007) and Cincinnati (2018). Sinner completed the set in just 33 months, from his maiden Masters crown in Toronto in August 2023 to this Roman Sunday.

"There's no better place to complete this set," Sinner said after the final, visibly moved by achieving the milestone in front of his home crowd. The world number one has now won six consecutive Masters 1000 titles, a run stretching from Shanghai in October 2025 through Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and now Rome in 2026.

At 24, Sinner is seven years ahead of Djokovic's timeline. The comparison between the two careers is inevitable, and the Serbian himself appears to accept it with sportsmanship. The torch, at least in the Masters 1000 chapter, has been passed.