Jannik Sinner will be making his return to the court after a controversial doping suspension, and everyone will be excited to see him at his home tournament in Italy: the Rome Open.
Having been dormant since agreeing a WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) suspension in February, Sinners is ramping back into action. He conducted a training session in front of thousands of fans on the center court at the Foro Italico.
He is so popular that Sky Sport broadcast his practice match with World No. 38 Jiri Lehecka live on TV.
The Italian tennis star currently holds three Grand Slam titles, and the big shock this year was his retention of the Australian Open title. It will be very interesting to see if he picks up the racket after a few months of inactivity.
“This has truly been the longest 3 months of my life, and I couldn’t be happier to make my return. I feel at home,” Sinner said during his return press conference.
In Rome, Jannik Sinner fans were hoping to catch a glimpse of him during the clay-court tournament two years back, but due to chronic injuries which hindered him from playing the previous year’s version won by Zverev, he was forced to miss the event yet again.
It is clear that Jannik Sinner struggles the most on this surface, especially since he has not trained for an extended period of time.
Sinner’s only previous achievement in clay courts was winning the title back in 2022 in Umag, in addition to being eliminated in the quarter rounds of Romas at the hands of Tsitsipas.
Luckily for Jannik Sinner, he does have some time before he actually has to step onto the court. His current standing as the number one ranked player in men’s tennis (who allows Sinner a free pass to the second-round) gives him the peace of mind of allowing no rush until Friday.
Ironically, Jannik Sinner’s competitors were strangely inactive during the duration of his pause. Zverev who was ranked second was in fact nearly 2,000 points behind the Australian Open finalist.
As things stand, Novak Djokovic looks to be in a better position and will have to wait a little longer for his 100th ATP title after putting a limit on the number of tournaments he wins consecutively six times. In the meantime, Alcaraz hasn’t shown up in Rome after pulling out of the Madrid Open.
Sinner is looking forward to participating in the Rome tournament before eyeing the second Slam of the season – the French Open.
“I’m here to assess myself… My main aim is Roland Garros,” Sinner explained.
“As for my plans for the event… It’s not about beating anyone specific. I just want to reach at least the second round and take it from there.”
The controversy surrounding Sinner’s two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March last year still looms over his 2024 season. That year, he had the best rise to the top winning eight titles, two Slams, and an ATP Finals, but was notched with incessant criticism alongside his triumphs.
Jannik Sinner revealed feeling “rock bottom” during the most recent Australian Open – revealing in an interview that other players he felt “looked at me differently”.
Jannik Sinner told journalists, along with WADA’s comments claiming he “did not intend to cheat,” accepted his position was unjustified.
Highlights
WADA did face backlash after claiming he was contaminated by his physiotherapist using a spray containing the banned substance to treat a cut before providing a massage.
In accepting this, WADA also agreed to abide by the three-month sanction proposed, rather than risk facing two years from tennis.
It was just as he began his whole dominance on men’s tennis.
“I didn’t want to do it in the beginning. It was not really easy for me to accept it because I know what really happened,” Sinner said.
“Yet, at times, you have to pick the least worst out of the horrible choices. That’s what we did. Everything is sorted now, so I’m glad that I can play again.”