Sinner Shines In Rome, Wins First Match Back On Tour

Jannik Sinner, Rome
Jannik Sinner (photo: FITP)

ROME/WASHINGTON, May 10, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The wait is finally over and it was worth the three-month wait. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy made his long-awaited return to court at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome Saturday evening. He took on Argentine Mariano Navone, ranked 99th, in his first match since winning the Australian Open title in January, due to a three-month period of ineligibility.

In a very businesslike and professional manner – and without showing any extra emotion – Sinner won, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 38 minutes.

Campo Centrale came alive and its 10,500 seats were filled to capacity with fans clamoring to see their South Tyrolean hero, who was clad from head to toe in all black Nike attire for his first match back on the ATP Tour. They entertained themselves during some of the changeovers by doing the wave. The atmosphere seemed interchangeable with the Serie A football match between Juventus and Lazio that was taking place at the same time nearby across the grounds of Foro Italico. In a word, it was lively.

The 23-year-old World No. 1 and top seed Sinner came into his second-round match against Navone on a career-best 21-match winning streak – he’s undefeated since last October – and was playing in his first clay-court tournament since Roland Garros last year. Now, with his eighth win of the season, the winning streak now stands at 22 straight.

While Navone, 24, sought the biggest win of career and to become the lowest-ranked player to defeat Sinner since Francisco Cerundolo (then ranked No. 103) in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Miami Open via retirement, it’s worth noting that Sinner had been 59-0 versus players ranked outside the Top 50 going back to the start of the 2023 US Open. Now, he’s 60-0 after defeating Navone.

Although on five different occasions has the No. 1 seed in Rome gone down to defeat in an opening-round match in the Open Era – most recently in 2017, when Fabio Fognini beat Andy Murray – it wasn’t going to happen this time.

From first ball to last ball, Sinner was locked in and his ball striking from both wings was – except for a brief moment in the eighth game of the second set – solid and pin-point accurate. Sinner added some variety to his game and surprised Navone with some well-disguised drop shots that were effective. He finished with 21 winners to 24 unforced errors, converted three of seven break points, and outpointed Navone 67-56.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be back,” Sinner said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I’ve waited quite a long time for this moment and I’m very happy to be back. It’s very difficult to have the right feedback when you don’t have any matches, and that’s exactly what I need. Now, I think the best practice is matches itself. So, I’m happy about the win today.”

Sinner broke early in the opening set for a 3-1 lead and it drew great applause from the mostly-Italian crowd, who cheered loudly every time Sinner won a point. He consolidated the break with a forehand drive volley to make it 4-1. Soon, he put away the 42-minute opening set 6-3, dropping just four points on his first serve while hitting 11winners and saving the only break point he faced.

Then, in the second set, Sinner broke to go ahead 4-3 – and the crowd roared its approval – but Navone quickly broke back to level matters at 4-all. However, Sinner erased the disappointment of being broken in the previous game and broke right back. It put him in the position of serving for the match, ahead 5-4. Sinner won on his first match point with a service winner. After returning from his 104-day sabbatical, he’s still the same Sinner as before. Sinner found his best when he needed it and improved his 2025 win-loss record to 8-0.

“I’m very happy about the win today. It was very difficult,” Sinner added. “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 doesn’t matter about the result today. It has been a remarkable day for me, so I’m very happy.”

With his well-deserved victory, Sinner moved one round closer to becoming the first Italian champion in Rome since Adriano Panatta in 1976. On Monday, Sinner will face 93rd-ranked lucky loser Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands, who defeated No. 25 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, 6-0, 6-2, in 66 minutes on Court 14. De Jong converted six of 12 break points and outpointed Davidovich Fokina 57-35. It was their first meeting.

Hometown hero Berrettini triumphs on Campo Centrale

Italian No. 3 Matteo Berrettini made a triumphant return to Rome, where he’s been absent since 2021, with his emotional 6-4, 7-6 (0) victory over No. 57 Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain in an hour and 56 minutes Opening play on Campo Centrale on Day 4 of the men’s ATP 1000 event, Berrettini improved to 21-3 on clay since the start of the 2023 season, including winning three ATP Tour titles last year, with his victory over the British No. 2, who Thursday evening ended Fabio Fognini’s career at the Italian Open.

Down 3-5 in the second set, Berrettini made a nice recovery to save two set points on his return – both of them were volley winners.

The 29th-seeded Berrettini won 77 percent of his first-serve points, hit 23 winners – 12 of them from his forehand side – to 31 unforced errors and outpointed Fearnley 82-65 to reach his fourth third round in Rome. He has appeared in his hometown tournament six times, but has been sidelined by injury or illness the past three years – or 1,458 days.

“I missed you,” Berrettini wrote on the camera lens in Italian, after receiving tremendous applause from the Italian fans, who flocked to Foro Italico on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The victory advanced Berrettini to face No. 6 Casper Ruud of Norway, last week’s champion at Madrid, who defeated No. 76 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in an hour and 56 minutes on Supertennis Arena. A three-time Rome semifinalist, Ruud extended his winning streak to seven with his win over Bublik and he’s 7-1 lifetime against the Russian-born Kazakh.

“It feels great,” said Ruud, during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I’m not sure how to address this match. It’s a lot of ups and downs, here and there, side to side. When Sascha starts his game, it becomes a bit of a show, so you just try not to admire it, to stay focused.

“He always hits spectacular shots, and sometimes it’s a little frustrating for us opponents. But all in all, happy to be through a tough three-setter. It’s never easy against Sascha, we had a tough match here in Rome a couple of years ago, so happy to get another today.”

Mixed results for Americans in Rome

No. 11 seed Tommy Paul of the United States eased past No. 56 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, 6-1, 6-4, in an hour and 20 minutes on Court 1 behind 18 winners and four breaks of the Spaniard’s serve to set up a third-round meeting with No. 19 seed Tomas Machac of Czechia, who eliminated #NextGenATP Learner Tien, 6-4, 6-4, in 82 minutes on Court 14. Machac dropped only three points on his first serve and converted four of 10 break points against the 70th-ranked American.

“I think I took care of the early points in my service games, early points in his service games,” Paul said during an interview after his win over Bautista Agut with Tennis Channel. “I guess I tried to dictate most of the match. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t really give you too many errors but will let you play your game. For me that worked out well today.”

Also, No. 22 seed Sebastian Korda of the United States saved all seven breaks points he faced and advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 winners over No. 79 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia, in one hour and 27 minutes on Court 1. He set up a third-round match against No. 66 Jaume Munar of Spain, who upset American and 12th seed Ben Shelton, 6-2, 6-1, in 77 minutes on Supertennis Arena. Munar saved the only break point he faced and converted five of 12 break-points chances. He outpointed his opponent 64-39.

Meanwhile, No. 15 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States was eliminated by 143rd-ranked Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3, in two hours on Pietrangeli. Ofner hit 32 winners and took advantage of 31 unforced errors by Tiafoe. In the third round, Ofner will face No. 17 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who garnered his ATP Tour-leading 17th win on clay this season by beating last year’s finalist, No. 53 Nicolas Jarry of Chile, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in an hour and 57 minutes.

Finally, No. 45 Marcos Giron upset No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), in one-hour, 42-minutes on Grand Stand Arena in an all-American clash. Giron won 77 percent of his first-serve points, hit 20 winners – 12 of them from his forehand side –converted all three break-point opportunities against Fritz and outpointed his opponent 78-70. Fritz hit 23 winners but made 27 unforced errors. It was Giron’s second win over Fritz in six career meetings.

“It’s amazing – it’s an honor – to beat Fritz,” Giron said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “He’s been a staple in the Top-10, Top-5 in the world for a long time. We’ve known each other for a long time and have practiced many times. We’ve had a lot of close matches in the past. He’s gotten me more than I’ve gotten him. To beat him here in Rome – I love this tournament and the fans are amazing – I thought I played really well. In the second set, I’m really proud how I battled back after being down a double-break. I didn’t have a great start. Of course, he’s a great champion.”

Next, Giron will face No. 30 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who needed just 83 minutes to earn his fourth straight win over No. 49 Pedro Martinez of Spain, 6-1, 7-5 on Court 14. Hurkacz hit seven aces and won 82 percent of his first-serve points. He broke his opponent’s serve four times in six chances and outpointed Martinez 65-45.

Around Foro Italico

• No. 61 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary advanced to the third round after upsetting No. 16 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, in two hours and 22 minutes on Supertennis Arena. It was his 13th win of the season and just his second career Top-20 win on clay. Marozsan struck 33 winners – including eight aces – and converted five of 18 break points. He outpointed the Russian 108-104. Rublev dropped to 1-8 in his last nine ATP Masters 1000 matches.

Next, Marozsan will face No. 20 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia, who ended the run of 164th-ranked Italian wild card Matteo Gigante, 7-6 (4), 7-5, in one hour and 42 minutes on Grand Stand Arena. Mensik hit 23 winners and faced no break points. He outpointed Gigante, 74-70.

• No. 26 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada withdrew with a lower back injury and was replaced by 103rd-ranked lucky loser Hugo Dellien of Bolivia, who defeated 120th-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 15 minutes on Pietrangeli. Dellien will face No. 7 seed Alex de Minaur, who beat 95th-ranked Italian wild card Luca Nardi, 6-4, 7-5, in one hour and 57 minutes on Grand Stand Arena Saturday evening for his 25th victory of the season, which ties him with Carlos Alcaraz for most wins on the ATP Tour. De Minaur put away the victory on his third match-point opportunity and outpointed Nardi 79-69.

Saturday’s Rome results

Sunday’s Rome order of play

By the numbers

Jannik Sinner is the third Italian No. 1 seed at Rome since the start of the Open Era in 1968. The other two: Martin Mulligan 1968 and Adriano Panatta 1977.

“Quotable …”

“Obviously, I’m pretty comfortable on the grass and on the hard court. I got more and more comfortable here [in Rome on clay] last year. I feel I really want to do well at Roland-Garros this year. I feel like I’ve done well in the other Grand Slams and really haven’t had a good run at Roland-Garros. That’s a big goal of mine this year. I really want to do well.”

No. 11 seed Tommy Paul, during a sit-down interview with Tennis Channel Saturday following his win over No. 56 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, on his expectation level on clay versus grass courts or hard courts.

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