Before and after his first match in Rome, there was a lot of talk about the World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and his comeback. In his second-round victory against Mariano Navone he already showed a lot of things that got him to where he is. But is he already a contender for the Rome and Roland Garros titles or will he need time?
The suspension and its pitfalls
Jannik Sinner was suspended for three months following a delicate situation around his physio, who had used a steroid cream on himself, prior to treating the player. After a subsequent positive doping test, Sinner was going back and forth with both the ITIA and WADA, before finally agreeing to the suspension due to negligence. Three months of no competitive tennis is a long time for a player that is used to be in tournaments week in and week out, especially with the change in surfaces to clay being right within this timeframe. This left Sinner only one tournament to prepare for the second Grand Slam of the season.
But not only was he not allowed to play ATP sanctioned events, he also was not able to train with professional players during this timeframe, which made his preparation even harder. There was basically no footage of him for the first two months of his ban, before he could be seen training with juniors in his home Italy a couple of weeks ago. But even if he was able to find players to strike the ball with, this hardly compares to tour-level practice and the rhythm that comes from this. So, all of us were sceptic on how his form would be in his return.
The talent that is Jannik Sinner
On the other hand, there undoubtedly aren’t many players that are as naturally gifted as the young Italian. His close-to-the-line, hard hitting playstyle has dominated the tour for over a year now and we all know what Sinner can do on a good day. Together with Carlos Alcaraz he forms the very top of the next generation on tour, but his style can even be more punishing than the Spaniard’s, as he relies on less spectacle and sometimes smothers players with his relentless hitting. If he would get back into rhythm quickly, everybody knew he could be successful right away, given that three months isn’t the longest of suspensions.
And parts of this could be seen in his comeback match, especially early on. It seemed as if Navone had no chance at winning a point for extended periods, it was either Sinner hitting his mark or missing it that decided the outcome. As per usual, he stayed close to the line and built the points nicely, moving the player with forceful groundstrokes and occasionally coming into the net even. Of course, as it could be seen in the second set, Sinner is not yet back to the shape where he had won the Australian Open this year, but he seemed not that far off. And it even seemed that he was more up to it physically, looking a bit bigger and defined than the scrawny kid from earlier days.
Where can this go?
So, the question remains, does Jannik Sinner already have a chance at winning his home tournament? I think he does, but ironically it will depend mainly on the competitors that had a hard time benefitting from his suspension like Alcaraz and Zverev. These players have a different level, one that I do not see Jannik at just yet and could probably beat him handily if they played at their ceiling now. But we have seen throughout the last months that they often struggled with expectations from in- and outside, so this doesn’t have to be a homerun victory.
First, Sinner will now play Jesper de Jong, who is a capable player but should not stand too much in his way. With this nice build up, it will be interesting what he can do from his first seed position, before he will run into heavier matches later in the draw. With Francisco Cerundolo and Casper Ruud in his quarter, he will definitely have to level up quickly if he wants to have a say about the Rome title, being one of the favorites in Italian Open betting. I think personally that his bigger chance will be in Paris, where the five-set format will further compliment his experience and game, so that he will be a heavy threat to Alcaraz, Zverev and others looking to win the title there.
Read more about Sinner here.
