Rome [Italy], May 11 : The world number one tennis star Jannik Sinner made his return to the tennis court after serving his suspension, kickstarting his Italian Open campaign with a win over Mariano Navone.
On Saturday night, he beat Navone in two sets by 6-3, 6-4. Sinner lost some momentum in the second set, but recovered quickly, sealing the match in 38 minutes at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.
This continues Sinner's win streak, as he extended it to 22 matches. He has not lost his match since his win over Carlos Alcaraz in the China Open last year, as per Olympics.com.
The three-time Grand Slam winner completed his three-month suspension, after having a settlement with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over his two positive doping tests in 2024.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Sinner as quoted by ATP's official website.
"I waited quite long for this moment. I am very happy to be back. It is very difficult to have the right feedback when you do not have any matches, and that is exactly what I need. Now I think the best practice is the match itself, so I am very happy about that."
"I am very happy about the win today. It was very difficult. He is such a great player, especially on this surface. I tried to move around the ball. At times it went very well, at times it could have been better, yes, but in any case, it does not matter about the result today. It has been a remarkable day for me, so I am very happy," he added.
Despite his time away from the ATP Tour, Sinner has stayed number one after winning the Australian Open title, his sole competition for the season. He has spent 48 successive weeks at the top, the 10th-longest streak in men's singles history.
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