Jannik Sinner has opened up on the feelings of doubt he experienced while serving a three-month ban. The world No. 1 accepted the suspension as part of a case-resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency in February and made his long-awaited return at the Italian Open on Saturday night. It looked as though he never left, as he breezed past Mariano Navone 6-3 6-4.
Before coming off the tour to serve his suspension, Sinner was on a lengthy winning streak, not losing a match since early October. But he confessed that he still questioned whether he could get back to winning ways, saying it “would sound very arrogant” not to.
There were plenty of unknowns when Sinner took to Campo Centrale at the Foro Italico for his first match in more than three months. While he had been a winning machine before his suspension, there was no telling whether things would be the same upon his return.
But it was business as usual for the three-time Grand Slam champion, who needed an hour and 38 minutes to get the job done. Although it wasn’t his best tennis, Sinner surprised himself with how well he settled into the match.
However, he wasn’t always sure that he could make a triumphant comeback. Asked whether he ever had any doubts while suspended, he replied: “Of course. It’s normal to have doubts. Would be strange to not have any doubts. Would sound very arrogant, no?
“I have doubts. I had doubts before going on court today. I have doubts now what’s going to happen in the next match.
“But we have to live with doubts because it means that you really care, that you want to improve, that you want to show yourself, that you want to do something special. So I believe every one of us has daily doubts.”
The doubts even seeped in early on in the match, though Sinner quickly settled his nerves when he broke in the fourth game.
He continued: “Look, the whole match, even when it seems quite comfortable, it’s a roller coaster, no? Especially inside we feel that.
“I would say especially beginning of the match having, again, the nerves of serving for the first time, trying to move in the best possible way you can. Yeah, that’s it. It’s different.
“In practice, you play just more freely, you don’t care as much when you lose a point. I’m very competitive, so I love the official match. I love the competition. That’s what I was looking for, no? Today I felt quite good on court. I’m happy about that.”
The 23-year-old also addressed another talking point from his comeback – his outfit. Sinner opted to wear an all-black kit and admitted he felt more comfortable in darker shades.
“Everyone is different. In Rome here, if we watch the last times when I played, I always played in whole black. It’s something what I always wanted to keep in a way,” he said.
“It can change in the future this, yes. But I love having all in the same colour. I believe it suits me quite well. I like not the yellow and orange and these very bright colours. I like more the darker colours.”