All roads lead to Rome Masters for Jannik Sinner after doping ban
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Italy's Jannik Sinner during training before the Rome Open.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ROME – Jannik Sinner is the star of the show at the upcoming Rome Masters as the world No. 1 and Italian tennis hero gears up for his return to the courts after a contested doping ban.
Away from the game since agreeing on a suspension with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) in February, the 23-year-old was welcomed back to action on May 5 by thousands of fans who watched his first training session at the tournament on centre court at the Foro Italico.
Such is the interest in Sinner, who has become a national hero since rising to the top of the men’s game, that Sky Sport broadcast the practice match with world No. 38 Jiri Lehecka live on television.
All eyes will be on Sinner as he has not swung a racket since retaining his Australian Open title in January, a victory which took his Grand Slam tally to three.
“I’m very happy, happy to be back here. It has been a very long, long three months,” he told reporters in a packed conference room inside the centre court.
Fans in Rome have waited two years to see Sinner play their clay-court tournament after injury forced him to miss the 2024 edition, won by Alexander Zverev.
It is on a surface which is not his favourite and his rustiness was clear to see during practice.
Only one of Sinner’s 19 titles has come on clay, in Umag, Croatia back in 2022, the same year as his best result in Rome, a quarter-final exit at the hands of beaten finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However, he does have some time before he finally takes to the court, his status as the top-ranked player on the men’s tour allowing him a bye into the second round which starts on May 9.
Sinner has been fortunate that none of his rivals took advantage of his enforced pause, with second-ranked Zverev still almost 2,000 points behind the man who beat him in the Australian Open final.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz is yet to arrive in Rome after withdrawing from the Madrid Open while Novak Djokovic will have to wait a bit longer for his 100th ATP title after deciding to sit out a tournament he has won six times.
Sinner is eyeing a run at the French Open (he reached the semi-finals last year), the second Slam of the season which follows the Rome tournament.
“My objective is Roland Garros, I’m here to see what level I’m at. I’m not here to beat whoever, but to get past the second round and then see what happens,” he said.
His rise to the top of the game in 2024, when he won eight titles including his first two Slams – the Australian and US Opens – and the ATP Finals, was dogged by the controversy which followed his two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March that year.
He said in April that he hit “rock bottom” at this season’s Australian Open, saying he felt like other players “looked at me differently”.
Sinner was aggrieved as he feels he did nothing wrong, and Wada said explicitly he “did not intend to cheat”, accepting he was contaminated by his physiotherapist using a spray containing the banned substance to treat a cut before providing a massage.
Regardless, he also had to accept the three-month ban offered by Wada, rather than risk being forced out of tennis for two years just as he became the dominant force in men’s tennis.
“I didn’t want to do it in the beginning. It was a bit not easy for me to accept it because I know what really happened,” said Sinner.
“But sometimes you have to choose the best in a very bad moment. And that’s what we did. It’s all over now, so I’m happy to play again.” AFP
