What we saw in Jannik Sinner's comeback from doping ban at Italian Open & what to expect from World No. 1 next

Jannik Sinner recently made his comeback to the tennis courts in Rome after serving his brief doping ban. To avoid risking a longer suspension, Sinner opted to take a deal WADA offered him, which saw him essentially miss about three months of action.

It wasn’t something that Sinner was entirely sold on because, in some ways, it can be argued that it’s a form of admitting guilt. He’s always maintained that he didn’t do anything wrong, but ultimately, taking the deal was the safer option long-term. He missed three months but avoided possibly missing a year or even more.

His return came at the Italian Open, where he faced Mariano Navone in the second round. It was a pretty sturdy performance by Sinner, who was able to win the match in two sets, but even so, it wasn’t a match without any complications.

The match lasted well over an hour and consisted of many long rallies, which is typical of how most South American players play. Navone is a player who extends the rally as long as he can and hopes for the best.

He had a decent amount of success with that against Sinner because, after all, he did break the serve of the Italian, which is rather impressive. Sinner, for the most part, played a pretty balanced and composed match.

He didn’t overly dominate the rallies, though he did apply pressure on his opponent in most of them. He totaled a solid amount of winners (21) and a bit more unforced errors (24), which was expected considering that he didn’t play for a while.

Overall, though, he didn’t beat himself against an opponent that tends to force others to do that, which is very good. Sinner will likely improve with every match he plays, and with time, we will know what to expect from the Italian.

He was pretty reserved in explaining the match after it concluded, admitting that there are no expectations when it comes to this particular event, which makes sense. His main goal is to get ready for Roland-Garros, and that’s what we’re going to talk about next.

What can we expect from Jannik Sinner in Paris?

French Open Tennis Tournament. Roland-Garros 2024. - Source: Getty

The main goal for anybody competing in Rome is Roland-Garros. The goal is a bit more realistic if you are considered among the top players competing, such as Jannik Sinner. While he might have missed a lot of time leading up to the clay season, he’s still one of the best players in the world.

With competitive matches and a few more days of practice, the Italian should arrive in Paris in decent form. It’s simply a product of his level and how good he has been in the past year and more.

He’s been the best player in the world, and it’s not even close. Carlos Alcaraz held his own for a while, but even he couldn’t really touch Sinner in the second half of 2024. It still doesn’t mean that he is going to be favored in Paris because even if he does really well and possibly makes the final, and even if he wins the event, the Italian still won’t be favored in Paris.

It partly comes down to Carlos Alcaraz having established himself as the superstar on clay that he is and beating Sinner in Paris last year. The Italian will still be among the top favorites, but it will come down to a few things. First of all, whether his body can handle that much tennis this early.

Yes, he’s been very active and has been practicing a lot leading up to this event, but actually playing matches and actually playing best-of-five matches is a totally different ballgame compared to practicing. It’s not the same thing, and whether his body can handle all of that will have to be tested.

Then there is the actual tennis part. He did look decent and fine against Navone, but how he will look when he’s facing really tough players who can hold their own against him—that’s going to be another test.

Finally, there will be the mental part. He’s shown himself to be tremendously resilient in the past year and more mentally, but as much as it’s something that you can gain, it’s also something that you can lose.

Overall, though, we can expect Jannik Sinner to be what he’s been in the not-so-distant past, and that’s the number one player in the world and one of the best. How much that translates into actually winning trophies remains to be seen, but he will be in contention for many of them, including the Roland-Garros one.