After three months of a much discussed suspension for doping, the world number 1 Jannik Sinner returns in competition at the Masters 1000 in Rome, the last major meeting on clay, from Tuesday, before Roland-Garros (May 26-9 June).
It is an understatement to say that Sinner is expected by a whole country in Foro Italico: his first official training, Monday in the evening, will be competed in the central in front of 10,000 fans and will be broadcast live on Sky Sport. Pending the Italian, whose last racket dates back to January 26 in the Australian Open final which he won for the second consecutive year, spoke for the first time in the press conference. “I am very happy to be back, it was a very, very, long break (…) I know that my return arouses a lot of attention”he said, in front of the Central’s press room, filled to crack.
If he could not dream better than a home tournament for his return, Sinner, 23, is not always comfortable on clay and/or when he plays “At home”. Of the 19 titles of his record, only one was won over on Earth (Umag 2022) and he had to wait for the last Masters ATP, in November in Turin, to finally triumph before the Italian public.
-“A difficult and stressful year”
Injury package just a year ago, its best result in Rome, a quarter -final lost against Stefanos Tsitsipas, dates back to 2022. Before its explosion, before it became the undisputed master of world tennis by winning last season, including the Australian Open, US Open and Masters ATP. But 2024 will also remain marked by its positive anti -doping control on the sidelines of the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells: a resounding case which he hopes to have sold by accepting in February a suspension of three months, but which continues to divide the world of tennis.
If the accidental contamination of an anabolic, via a massage provided by a member of his entourage, has never been called into question, the agreement reached with the world anti -doping agency which initially aimed at two years of suspension, made its teeth cringe. « At first, he recognized, I did not want this agreement, it was not easy for me to accept it, because I really know what happened, but sometimes you have to know how to get the best out of a bad situation and that’s what we have done (…) Everything is finished now, I am happy to be able to replay “. The native of the Haut-Adige who will have the first opponent the Argentinian Mariano Navone (99th) or the great Italian hope Federico Cina (323rd). His rivals did not really take advantage of his absence: his runner -up in the ATP Alexander Zverev ranking still accuses almost 2000 points late.
So much so that Sinner, despite his forced break, could very well come back as he left, by winner, and become the first Italian to win the Italian internationals since Adriano Panatta in 1976. “My goal is Roland-Garros, However, he warnedI am here to see where I am, to try to pass my first round, not to beat everyone. Each match will be difficult, but I am very serene, well physically and morally, rested and it will pay at the end of the season “.
