Top-ranked Jannik Sinner shook off a three-month doping ban with a commanding 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 99 Mariano Navone at the Italian Open on Saturday, thrilling a raucous home crowd in his long-awaited return.
Playing his first match since capturing his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, Sinner showed little rust, pounding groundstrokes deep and sharp from the start. When he broke for 3-1 in the opening set, chants of “Ole, ole, ole, Sin-ner, Sin-ner” echoed through Campo Centrale.
Many fans in the sold-out crowd of 10,500 were dressed in orange, Sinner’s theme color. There were plenty of signs that read “Bentornato Jannik” (“Welcome back, Jannik”).
The victory extended Sinner’s winning streak to 22 matches, dating to October.
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 to avoid missing any Grand Slams and return at his home tournament.
The settlement followed WADA’s appeal of 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 the 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, “After three months of conclave, Habemus Papam!” – using the Latin phrase announced from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica when a pope is elected.
Sinner’s 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 out.
The last Italian man to win the Rome title was Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Sinner will next face Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong, who beat 25th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0, 6-2.
In the women’s tournament, three-time champion Iga Swiatek was beaten by Danielle Collins 6-1, 7-5. The third-round loss marked Swiatek’s earliest defeat at a major WTA event in nearly four years.
Swiatek, 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 the French Open starts May 25.
Swiatek has won four of her five Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.
