“Lord forgive me, the Sinner is back,” read a pair of T-shirts, complete with AI-generated religious imagery, worn by two exuberant women sporting orange wigs in a crowd of thousands that had amassed outside the Foro Italico’s stadium court an hour before festivities began.
Their joy was reflective of a jubilant night in Rome as Jannik Sinner marked his return to professional tennisafter his three-month doping banwith a win on home soil at the Italian Open, closing out a positive performance with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mariano Navone of Argentina to reach the third round.
The men’s world No 1, who received a first round bye, had not competed since entering a case resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) in February. In April last year, the 23-year-old twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol before the initial independent declared that Sinner bore no fault or negligence for the anti-doping rule violation and would not receive a suspension. Wada chose to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport and sought a ban of one to two years before the two parties came to an agreement.
Long before Sinner had even started his first pre-match warm-up since the Australian Open final, his audience was already in full voice. Thousands of fans gathered beneath the bridge that connects the Campo Centrale, the stadium court, to other exclusive player areas on the tournament grounds. Even though Sinner did not appear on the bridge before his match, the spectators chanted his name, waving flags and signs with his likeness.
With the exception of an unforgettable Thursday in Rome, when even the big screen on the side of the Campo Centrale switched to the news as Robert Francis Prevost was named the new pope, the focus of the Italian Open has been almost entirely on Italy’s first ever No 1 singles player. It is almost impossible to navigate Rome without catching a glimpse of Sinner in some form. He seems to pop up in almost every other commercial on television channels, whether during the Champions League semi-finals or reality television shows. Throughout the week, his practice sessions were filmed and uploaded online byTennisTV, the Association of Tennis Professionals’ streaming platform.
Considering his success on the court over the past 18 months, as he has established himself as the best player in the world with three grand slam titles, it comes as no surprise that Sinner has gained such a high profile in his tennis-mad home country. However, his doping case appears to have only increased his profile and popularity at home, his compatriots rallying around him in case nobody else in the world would. His uncertainty about his reception was quelled from his first practice when he entered the court to huge cheers.
After days of anticipation surrounding his return, Sinner was ushered back on-court by the announcer as“ilmaestro”,the raucous cheers he received on his emergence setting the tone for the night. Every single successful point was cheered loudly and at length, and there was plenty to cheer on against Navone, a gritty clay-court specialist who made life difficult for Sinner but lacked the firepower to seriously trouble him.
Although some rust was unsurprisingly visible in parts of the Italian’s game, particularly in his forehand, so too was the destructive ball-striking that has set him apart from the rest of the world. Sinner struck his trusty backhand brilliantly from the beginning, he moved well and served well enough on the important points. After saving two break points in a messy service game at 1-1, he rolled through the set. He then spurned a break lead at 4-3 in set two before locking down his game and closing out the win.
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As Sinner closed out his first match back with an authoritative service game, his audience erupted into loud, sustained charts for a final time, delaying the start of the post-match interview as he soaked up the support. There will be many greater challenges ahead for Sinner, who next faces the Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong, but the most important development for the tightly packed crowd on the Campo Centrale is that the Sinner is back.
Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek’s difficult run continued as the defending champion was defeated 6-1, 7-5 by the American Danielle Collins in the third round. The Pole, who will start her attempt to win a fourth consecutive French Open this month, will return to Paris having not won a single title at any level since her triumph there a year ago. Jacob Fearnley, the British No 2, fell 6-4, 7-6 (0) to the 29th seed, Matteo Berrettini.