Jannik Sinner will have been keeping a watchful eye over the likes of Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz ahead of his return to tennis.
Sinner has been training in Monaco since accepting his three month ban from the sport by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) back in February.
That is where the current Monte Carlo Masters tournament is taking place, where world number two Zverev has suffered another early exit.
Zverev was beaten by Matteo Berrettini, a good friend of Sinner’s, who has subsequently confirmed something for the his compatriots return to tennis next month.
Jannik Sinner set to make history when he returns at the Italian Open
After a poor set of results for Zverev since losing in the Australian Open final to Sinner, it has confirmed something in the ATP rankings.
In the current live rankings, Sinner is 2,335 points ahead of Zverev and 3,200 ahead of Alcaraz.
This means that regardless of what happens ahead of his return, Sinner will definitely still be the world number one.
Sinner is scheduled to return at his home ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the Italian Open, that begins on May 7.
As a result, Sinner is set to make history as the first Italian player to compete at the Rome Masters as the world number one.
Not only has Zverev confirmed that he will not be the world number one anytime soon, but his place at world number two is also at risk.
If the aforementioned Alcaraz is to win the Monte Carlo Masters, he will overtake Zverev as the new world number two.
However, that seems a long way away just yet, with Alcaraz not winning a Monte Carlo Masters match in his career so far.
Jannik Sinner’s record at the Italian Open
Despite being a crowd favorite at the upcoming tournament, the Italian Open is actually Sinner’s second weakest Masters 1000 tournament with just a 64% win rate.
Sinner played only his second ATP main draw at the Italian Open in 2019, when he was just 17-years-old.
The teenager lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, but a year later got revenge over the Greek at the same tournament to get what was only his second top 10 career win at the time.
Sinner has also played Rafael Nadal in Rome, losing to the record 10-time champion at the 2021 tournament.
His best result came in 2022, when Sinner reached the quarter-finals before once again bumping into Tsitsipas.
| Year | Result | Player who beat Sinner |
| 2019 | Second Round | Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) beat Sinner (WC), 6-3 6-2 |
| 2020 | Third Round | Grigor Dimitrov (15) beat Sinner (WC), 4-6 6-4 6-4 |
| 2021 | Second Round | Rafael Nadal (2) beat Sinner, 7-5 6-4 |
| 2022 | Quarter-final | Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) beat Sinner (10), 7-6(5) 6-2 |
| 2023 | Fourth Round | Francisco Cerundolo (24) beat Sinner (8), 6(3)-7 6-2 6-2 |
Sinner missed the Italian Open last year due to a hip injury, but should be fresh to go at this year’s tournament in what will be his first event since winning the Australian Open.
Although clay has not been his strongest surface over the years, Sinner has been backed to win Roland Garros and come back firing.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
