After waiting over 100 days, Jannik Sinner still knows how to win a tennis match.
The top-ranked player took a solid return from a three-month doping ban, beating 99th place Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4 before the worshipping homecloud at the Italian Open on Saturday.
It was Thinner’s first match since winning his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. He said he needs all three games to regain a competitive focus.
“Amazing feeling. I’ve been waiting quite a long time for this moment,” Sinner said. “I’m so happy to be back.”
There were not many signs of rust, and it didn’t take long for the sinner to start crushing his ground strokes above or near the line. When the Italians broke 3-1 in the first set, the crowd in the heart of Campo sang “I, I, I, I, I, Sinner.”
However, the sinner admitted that he had doubts about whether he would regain the form he had before his ban.
“It’s normal to have doubts. It would be strange not to have doubts. Does it sound very rogh?,” the sinner said. “I had doubts before I went to court today. I have doubts about what will happen in the next match. But we mean you really care, want to improve, want to show yourself, do something special.”
Many fans of the 10,500-person sold out crowd were dressed in orange, a thinner theme color. And there were plenty of indications: “Bentornato Jannik” (“Welcome Jannik”).
The victory extended Thinner’s winning streak to 22 games, dating back to October.
“It worked very well at times,” he said. “Yes, it might be better, but in any case, it doesn’t matter what the outcome today. It was an amazing day for me.”
In February, the sinner agreed to a three-month ban on a settlement with the world’s anti-doping agency, which raised several questions, as he was able to return to the tournament at home without missing the Grand Slam.
The settlement comes after last year suing the International Tennis Integrity Agency for its decision to exonerate the offender completely from what was deemed an accidental contamination from anabolic steroids that was banned in March 2024.
The advantage of many of their peers is that sinners have been treated too lightly.
However, the crowds at the Italiconite session were completely behind the thinner, who, despite the suspension, remained Italy’s most popular athlete.
Thinner unleashed his backhand approach and won the line early in the first set – the game in which he ultimately broke Navone’s serve – one sinner fan yelled, “Destroy him.”
Another sign of the crowd was translated as “throbbing our hearts.” The other was joking, referring to the election of a new pope just below the Vatican in this week’s new pontiff election, joking, “After three months of conclave, Habemus Papam!” – Uses Latin, published from the balcony of St. Peter’s Cathedral when the Pope was elected.
“The crowd was incredible,” Sinner said. “They give me the power to continue even in difficult times, so it was a very special moment.”
His only real lapse came later in the second set when he failed to consolidate the break and dropped his serve. However, he broke again in the next game and then played in the match.
The sinner hit a winner twice as many as 21-10 Navone, but he had an unforced error 24-19.
“It’s very difficult to get the right feedback when there’s no match,” Thinner said. “But that’s exactly what I need. Right now I think best practice is the match itself.”
The Cinner will then face Jesper de John, the 93rd place Dutch qualifier who beat 25th seed Alejandro Davidevich Fokina 6-0, 6-2.
The last Italian to win the Rome title was Adriano Panatta in 1976.
“Hopefully, I can play one or two more matches here and see where I am, and this will be my main goal,” Thinner said.
