Jannik Sinner's three-month ban from tennis has officially come to an end as of Monday morning, and it is very fitting that he World No. 1's first tournament back is the Italian Open held in his home country.
Sinner was banned from the sport in order to settle an anti-doping violation stemming from the star's two positive doping tests almost a year ago. Sinner tested positive for banned anabolic steroid Clostebol twice in March 2024.
The tennis star walked onto a professional tennis court on Monday for the first time in three months, and he was met with thunderous applause from the Italian crowd. It's safe to say the sport and its fans missed Sinner.
Rome’s and its Number one – reunited 🫂#IBI25 pic.twitter.com/H5EailG0YJ
— Internazionali BNL d'Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 5, 2025
His appearance at the Italian Open marks the first tournament he's played at since winning the Australian Open for a second time in January. Sinner admitted during his media availability on Monday that it may take him some time to recognize where he's at competitively after his time away from tennis.
“For me, what's missing is the complete feedback of where my level is. That's going to come slowly with time," Sinner said, via the ATP Tour. "After the first round match, I'm going to have a better picture of myself, where I am at. It's very strange feeling again in the beginning to be around so many people and attention. But it's nice to be back, me and my team are very happy.”
Sinner held onto the World No. 1 position even while he was away from the court. His closest competitiors in the rankings are No. 2 Alexander Zverev (who still has over 1,500 less ATP points than Sinner) and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who's coming off a withdrawal from the Madrid Open due to injury. He's set to compete in Rome this week.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jannik Sinner Welcomed With Thunderous Applause at First Practice Since Doping Ban.
