Source : ABC NEWS
Jannik Sinner has made a solid return from his three-month doping ban by beating 99th-ranked Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4 before an adoring home crowd at the Italian Open.
It was Sinner’s first match since he won his third grand slam title at the Australian Open in January but he said it took him all of three games to get his competitive focus back.
“Amazing feeling. I have waited quite long for this moment. I am very happy to be back,” Sinner said.
There were not too many signs of rust and it did not take long for Sinner to start crushing his groundstrokes on or near the lines.
When the Italian broke for 3-1 in the first set, the crowd inside Campo Centrale sang “Ole, ole, ole, Sin-ner, Sin-ner.”
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Sinner acknowledged he had doubts over whether he would regain the form that he had before his ban.
“It’s normal to have doubts. Would be strange to don’t have any doubts. Would sound very arrogant, no?” Sinner said.
“I had doubts before going on court today. I have doubts now what’s going to 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 in the sold-out crowd of 10,500 were dressed in orange, Sinner’s theme colour. And there were plenty of signs that said “Bentornato Jannik” (“Welcome back Jannik”).
The victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to 22 matches, dating to October.
“It went very well at times,” he said.
“Could be better, yes, but in any case it doesn’t matter about the result today. It has been a remarkable day for me.“
In February, Sinner agreed to the three-month ban in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised some questions, since it conveniently allowed him not to miss any Grand Slams and come back at his home tournament.
Sinner admitted to being nervous before his return match. (AP: Andrew Medichini)
The settlement was made after WADA appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerate Sinner for what it deemed to be an accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid in March 2024.
Many fellow pros feel Sinner was treated too lightly, but the crowd at the Foro Italico night session was fully behind Sinner, who has remained Italy’s most popular athlete despite his suspension.
When Sinner unleashed a backhand approach winner up the line early in the first set — the game in which he eventually broke Navone’s serve — one Sinner fan yelled, “Destroy him.”
Another sign in the crowd translated to “Make our hearts beat.” One more referred to this week’s election of a new pope just down the road at the Vatican, joking that “After three months of conclave, Habemus Papam!” — using the Latin words that are announced from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica when a pope is elected.
His only real lapse came late in the second set when he failed to consolidate a break and dropped his serve. But he broke again in the next game and then served the match out.
Sinner will next face 93rd-ranked Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong, who beat 25th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0, 6-2.
The crowd was note so vocally behind Australian number one Alex de Minaur as he beat local hope Luca Nardi 6-4, 7-5.
Alex de Minaur has shown his ability on clay in recent seasons. (Getty Images: Clive Mason)
De Minaur produced a typically professional performance to beat the 21-year-old in just under two hours, hitting three fewer winners but, crucially, 13 fewer unforced errors.
De Minaur would have been facing Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round, but the Canadian 27th seed was a late withdrawal due to a back injury and Bolivian Hugo Dellien took his place, taking down qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild to progress.
De Minaur is joined in the third round by countryman Alexei Popyrin, who plays 10th seed Daniil Medvedev.
In the women’s tournament, three-time champion Iga Świątek was beaten by Danielle Collins 6-1, 7-5. The third-round loss marked Świątek’s earliest defeat at a big WTA event in nearly four years.
Świątek, the top clay-court player on the women’s tour, was coming off a lopsided loss to Coco Gauff in the Madrid Open semifinals last week.
She has 15 days to rediscover her form before May 25, which marks the start of the French Open, where she has won four of her five grand slam titles.
AP/ABC
