After an expectation of more than 100 days, Jannik Sinner always knows how to win a tennis match.
The best classified player made a solid yield of his three-month doping ban by beating Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 before a crowd of worship at the Italian Open on Saturday.
It was Sinner’s first game since he won his third Grand Slam title at Australian Open in January. He said he had taken three games to recover his competitive goal.
“Feel incredible. I waited long enough for this moment,” said Sinner. “I am very happy to be back.”
There were not too many signs of rust, and it didn’t take long to start crushing his grounds on or near the lines. When the Italian broke out for 3-1 in the first set, the crowd inside Campo central sang “ole, ole, ole, sin, sin.”
But the sinner recognized that he had doubts as to if he would resume the form he had before his ban.
“It’s normal to have doubts. It would be strange not to have any doubts. It would seem very arrogant, right?” Said sinner. “I had doubts before leaving for the court today. I have doubts now what will happen in the next match. But we have to live with doubts because it means that you really care, that you want to improve, that you want to show yourself, that you want to do something special.”
Many fans of the 10,500 closed window crowds were dressed in orange, the color of the sinner theme. And there were a lot of signs that said “Bentornato Jannik” (“Welcome to Back Jannik”).
The victory extended Sinner’s victories sequence at 22 games, dating from October.
“It went very well,” he said. “Could be better, yes, but in any case, it doesn’t matter today. It was a remarkable day for me.”
In February, the sinner accepted the three -month ban in a regulation with the World Anti -Doping Agency which raised certain questions, because it has conveniently allowed him to miss any Grand Slam and return to his tournament at home.
The regulations were established after the AMA appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerate the sinner for what he considered accidental contamination by an anabolic steroid prohibited in March 2024.
Many colleagues from the pros feel sinners have been treated too lightly.
But the crowd of Foro Italico’s night session was entirely behind Sinner, who remained the most popular athlete in Italy despite her suspension.
When the sinner triggered a winner of the loss of the first set – the game in which he finally broke the Navone service – a fan of the sinner shouted, “destroy”.
Another sign in the crowd resulted in “making our hearts beat”. Another referred to the election of this week of a new pope just at the bottom of the Vatican road, joking “After three months of conclave, Habemus Papam!” – Using the Latin words announced from the Saint-Pierre Basilica balcony when a pope is elected.
“The crowd was incredible,” said Sinner. “They always give me the strength to continue even in difficult times. So it was a very, very special moment.”
His only real forfeiture arrived late in the second set when he failed to consolidate a break and dropped his service. But he broke out again in the next match and then served the match.
Sinner struck twice as many winners as Navone, 21-10, but he had more unl forced errors, 24-19.
“It is very difficult to have the right comments when you have no correspondence,” said Sinner. “But that’s exactly what I need. Now I think the best practice is the match itself.”
The sinner will then face the Dutch qualifier classified from the 93rd Jesper of Jong, who beat the 25th seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0, 6-2.
The last Italian to win the title of Rome was Adriano Panatta in 1976.
“I hope I can play one or two more games here to see where I am, which would be my main goal,” said Sinner.
