MILAN: Jannik Sinner is the star of the show at the upcoming Rome Open as the world No. 1 and Italian tennis hero gears up for his return to the courts after a contested doping ban.

Away from the game since agreeing a suspension with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in February, Sinner was welcomed back to action on Monday by thousands of fans who watched his first training session at the tournament on center court at the Foro Italico.

Such is the interest in Sinner, who has become a national hero in Italy since rising to the top of the men’s game, that Sky Sport broadcast the practice match with world No. 38 Jiri Lehecka live on television.

All eyes will be on the 23-year-old as he hasn’t swung a racket since retaining his Australian Open title in January, a victory which took his Grand Slam tally to three.

“I’m very happy, happy to be back here. It has been a very long, long three months,” Sinner told reporters in a packed conference room inside the center court.

Fans in Rome have waited two years to see Sinner play their clay court tournament after he missed last year’s edition, won by Alexander Zverev, with injury.

It is on a surface which is not his favorite and his rustiness was clear to see on Monday.

Only one of Sinner’s 19 titles has come on clay, in Umag back in 2022, the same year as his best result in Rome, a quarter-final exit at the hands of beaten finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

However he does have some time before he finally takes to the court, his status as the top-ranked player on the men’s tour allowing him a bye into the second round which starts on Friday.

Sinner has been fortunate that none of his rivals took advantage of his enforced pause, with second-ranked Zverev still almost 2,000 points behind the man who beat him in the Australian Open final.

Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz is yet to arrive in Rome after withdrawing from the Madrid Open while Novak Djokovic will have to wait a bit longer for his 100th ATP title after deciding to sit out a tournament he has won six times.

Sinner is eyeing a run at the French Open, the second Slam of the season which follows the Rome tournament.

“My objective is Roland Garros, I’m here to see what level I’m at,” said Sinner.

“I’m not here to beat whoever, but to get past the second round and then see what happens.”

Sinner’s rise to the top of the game in 2024, when he won eight titles including his first two Slams and the ATP Finals, was dogged by the controversy which followed his two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March last year.

He said last month he hit “rock bottom” at the most recent Australian Open, saying he felt like other players “looked at me differently.”

Sinner was aggrieved as he feels he did nothing wrong, and WADA said explicitly he “did not intend to cheat,” accepting he was contaminated by his physiotherapist using a spray containing the banned substance to treat a cut before providing a massage.

Regardless, he also had to accept the three-month ban offered by WADA, rather than risk being forced out of tennis for two years just as he became the dominant force in men’s tennis.

“I didn’t want to do it in the beginning. It was a bit not easy for me to accept it because I know what really happened,” said Sinner.

“But sometimes you have to choose the best in a very bad moment. And that’s what we did. It’s all over now, so I’m happy to play again.”

MADRID: Last year’s runner-up Aryna Sabalenka survived a gritty Marta Kostyuk and an untimely rain interruption to complete a 7-6(7/4), 7-6(9/7) win over the Ukrainian and reach the Madrid Open semifinals for a fourth time on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Sabalenka needed 84 minutes to take the opening set before securing the win in cold, breezy conditions.
Kostyuk saved a match point and broke to take the second set into a tiebreak. At 5-4 in the breaker, it started to rain and play was halted briefly to close the roof of the Manolo Santana stadium.
Upon resumption of play, Sabalenka saved three set points and eked out the win, her third over her rival in as many meetings.
“Honestly, that was a battle and conditions were incredibly tough. It wasn’t about tennis, it was about the way you handled your emotions,” said the Belarusian world number one, who hit 48 unforced errors.
“I think I did really well and I’m super proud I was able to handle myself in such a difficult situation.”
Sabalenka next takes on another Ukrainian in the form of Elina Svitolina, who extended her winning streak to 11 consecutive matches with a swift 6-2, 6-1 rout of Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in just 52 minutes.
A champion in Rouen last week, Svitolina is undefeated on clay this season and is the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semifinals in Madrid.
The 30-year-old has won her last 22 consecutive sets on the red dirt.
Svitolina has a three-year-old daughter, is running a foundation that has taken over the responsibilities of the Ukrainian national tennis team both financially and from a managerial side, and is on an incredible run that will see her re-enter the top 15 in the rankings.
“I have a lot on my plate, but I draw energy and motivation from my people,” said the former world number three.
“When I go back to Ukraine, I just get so much energy from all the people that are right now over there having a tough time. I’m just trying to keep it up and bring some wins for Ukraine.”
Earlier in the day, Iga Swiatek kept her Madrid Open title defense alive, as she avenged her Australian Open defeat to Madison Keys with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against the American in the quarter-finals.
The second seed will next square off with Coco Gauff, who beat 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva for the third time in as many meetings, 7-5, 6-1.
Searching for her first title of the season, the second-seeded Swiatek recovered from a poor opening set to improve her clean record on clay against Keys to 4-0 and reach a third consecutive Madrid semifinal.
Keys knocked out the Pole on her way to a maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne three months ago and seemed to have cracked the Swiatek code when she handed her a bagel in the first set on Wednesday.
But Swiatek, who was contesting a 17th consecutive quarter-final on clay, cut down on her errors and struck back to book a last-four clash with Gauff.
On court in the Arantxa Sanchez stadium, Gauff saved two set points while receiving at 4-5 before seizing a one-set lead after 63 minutes of play against Andreeva.
Gauff cruised in the second set to dismiss the seventh-seeded Russian and reach her first semifinal of the year — outside of the mixed team United Cup event.
The fourth-seeded American gave herself a 9/10 grade for her performance, adding: “I think I played really well and stayed composed, even when facing those set points.”
In ATP action, Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Matteo Arnaldi earned multiple top-20 wins in one event for the first time by knocking out 16th-seeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 to move into the Madrid quarter-finals.
The Italian world number 44 will take on Jack Draper, who reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final on clay with a 6-2, 6-2 result against world number 12 Tommy Paul.
Lucky loser Gabriel Diallo saved three match points to claim the biggest win of his career over world number 16 Grigor Dimitrov 5-7, 7-6(9/7), 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals.