Jannik Sinner is finally back from his three-month ban, with the three-time Grand Slam champion now on home soil for the Italian Open.
World number one Sinner is the top seed at the Italian Open, the latest ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the 2025 season.
Lorenzo Sonego thinks Sinner will be even stronger upon his return, with the Australian Open representing his last event.
Sinner triumphed at the Australian Open in January before his suspension, representing his third Grand Slam title.
Jack Sock thinks Sinner is the French Open favourite, with the next Grand Slam in the calendar getting underway later this month.
What Jannik Sinner was like to interview ahead of his return at the Italian Open
And journalist Jon Wertheim has now shared insight into the Italian’s thoughts, having spoken with him ahead of his return to competitive tennis.
“I spent the day with him in Monte Carlo last week and this will be an interview which will run on TNT during the Roland Garros coverage,” he said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
“It was a few days before he was leaving for Rome. I have got to say, my big takeaway is that he totally grasps what he’s about to confront. He has been off for 90 days now and serving this penalty. He described it as the lesser of two evils.
“He does not think he did anything wrong but he realised that essentially this was a plea bargain and it could have been worse.
“I think he realises that he is going to get questions about this. We sat down and there was nothing off the table, there was none of this, don’t ask about this suspension.
“It was a good, solid conversation with no conditions or stipulations put on it and I think he recognises what he is confronting, not just in terms of what it’s going to be like to rejoin the tour, but I think that he understands big picture this is something he’s going to have to answer for.
“He essentially maintains his innocence and I think he recognises there will be people that support him and there will be people that no matter what he says and does, this that he somehow skated and there will be other people still trying to figure out how they feel.
“It’s an uncomfortable situation. The guy has won three of the last five majors and won the previous major and then he serves a 90-day doping suspension and goes to the next major as the number one seed.”
Who does Jannik Sinner play on his first match back from three-month ban?
Given his ranking, Sinner will be eased into action at the Italian Open, having been handed a bye into round two.
But he has already been feeling the love from fans in Rome, who were delighted to see him take to the practice courts.
That should provide Sinner with a huge confidence boost ahead of his first match, which comes against either Mariano Navone and Federico Cina.
The winner of that clash will perhaps already be eyeing a huge upset, but Sinner should be more than capable of coming out on top despite his lack of competitive action lately.
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