Jannik Sinner returned to competitive tennis at the Italian Open with a straight-sets victory in front of his home crowd on Saturday evening.
The world No.1 disposed of Argentina’s Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4, in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since January following a 90-day suspension. Sinner produced 21 winners against 24 unforced errors and converted three out of six break points to seal victory. He has now won 22 ATP matches in a row, with his last loss being against Carlos Alcaraz at the China Open seven months ago.
“It’s an Amazing feeling,” Sinner said afterwards.
“I’ve waited quite long for this moment. I’m very happy to be back.
“It’s very difficult to have the right feedback when you don’t have (play) any matches.
“That’s what I need. I think the best practice is the match itself. So I’m very happy about that and happy about the win.”
Sinner has missed the last three months of the Tour after reaching an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over two failed drug tests in 2024 that he said were caused by accidental contamination from his former physio. The ban was related to WADA’s argument that Sinner is responsible for hiring his staff and ensuring they are following the right protocol. Therefore, he had a certain degree of fault in the failed tests. However, WADA stated there was no indication that the tennis star deliberately took a banned substance, which is a view that the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) also had during their investigative process.
Walking onto the Faro Italico, Snner received a big applause from a packed crowd inside the Campo Centrale. As for his form, the Italian was relatively sharp throughout most of the opener, with him winning 69% of his service points and breaking Navone once en route to sealing a 6-3 lead in just over 40 minutes.
The top seed experienced a sterner test as his level decreased at the start of the second frame against Navone, who has been ranked as high as 29th in the world and played two ATP finals on clay last year. To coincide with this, there was also a noticeable lull in the crowd atmosphere, which became quieter.
Locked in a roller-coaster battle, Sinner traded breaks with Navone midway through the second set before securing another break that set him up with the opportunity to serve for a comeback victory at 5-4. He worked his way to match point with the help of a Navone forehand error, which prompted chanting of ‘Sinner’ from the crowd. He then sealed victory with a 200 km/h serve down the T.
“He’s such a great player, especially on this surface,” the current US and Australian Open champion said of Navone.
“I tried to move around the ball at times. It went very well at times but could be better.
“But in any case, it doesn’t matter about the result. Today has been a remarkable day for me. So I’m very happy.”
Sinner is now 60-0 against players ranked outside the top 20 since the start of the 2023 US Open.
