Jannik Sinner will make his much-awaited return to the court at the 2025 Italian Open after nearly a three-month suspension. The Italian accepted the suspension in February, which was in agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for testing positive for the banned substance Clostebol last year.
Jannik Sinner Arrives in Rome for the Italian Open As Doping Ban Ends
Sinner tested positive for Clostebol twice during his BNP Paribas Open campaign in March 2024. The World No. 1 explained that the substance inadvertently entered his system during treatment by his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, who had mistakenly used a contaminated over-the-counter spray.
Following a thorough investigation, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing and chose not to impose a suspension. However, WADA appealed the decision in September last year.
A few weeks after winning the Australian Open this January, Sinner accepted a three-month ban in agreement with WADA, which ended on Sunday, May 4. He will next be in action at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, starting from May 7.
The 23-year-old recently arrived in Rome ahead of the Masters 1000 event. Check out the clip of him walking through the airport shared on X (formerly Twitter) below:
Jannik Sinner è arrivato a Roma 🔥⏳ pic.twitter.com/ejsMhQqoQV
— SuperTennis TV (@SuperTennisTv)
Another clip shared on X shows the Italian just before getting into the car that arrived to pick him up.
HE IS BACK 🇮🇹
FORZA 🦊 pic.twitter.com/mqiOaoN3t8
— Janniksin_Updates (@JannikSinner_Up)
Jannik Sinner Believes That the 2025 Clay-Court Season Will Be a Challenging One for Him
Speaking to local broadcaster ORF Südtirol last month, Sinner said that while he has been training diligently for the clay court season, returning after a long hiatus won’t be easy.
“Now that we have less than a month to go, we’re training very, very hard. Hopefully, we’ll get some momentum going again ahead of the clay season. It certainly won’t be easy for me,” he said.
“The first games will be really difficult. But hopefully I’ll be able to get back into the rhythm and then we’ll see how it goes,” he added.
Sinner had a decent clay-court season last year, reaching the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the French Open and finishing as a quarterfinalist in Madrid.
Thanks to his Australian Open triumph earlier this year, which created a substantial 3,695-point gap over Alexander Zverev, Sinner retained the top spot in the ATP rankings even during his suspension and is also the No. 1 seed at the Masters 1000 event in Rome.
Sinner, unbeaten with a 7-0 record this season, will aim for his second title of 2025 in Rome
