World No. 1 Jannik Sinner said he was caught off guard by the tennis peers who reached out – and those who stayed silent – during his recent three-month doping suspension.
“Some messages really surprised me,” Sinner said. “And there were others I thought would reach out but didn’t. I won’t name names.”
Sinner returns to action this week at the Italian Open, his home tournament, after a controversial settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency. The timing of the deal raised eyebrows, as it allowed the Italian star to avoid missing any Grand Slam tournaments.
The agreement followed WADA’s appeal of a 2024 ruling by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which had cleared Sinner of wrongdoing, citing accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid.
Many fellow pros felt Sinner was treated too lightly. The Italian recently said he didn’t feel comfortable in the locker room or the players’ lounge during his run to a second straight Australian Open title in January, noting, “Players were looking at me differently.”
Coach Simone Vagnozzi said he and Darren Cahill, Sinner’s other coach, also sensed the glares.
“When something like that happens, I think it’s almost inevitable to have everyone looking at you. But there have also been some nice things said,” Vagnozzi said, highlighting comments he appreciated from Holger Rune’s mother, Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev.
In the final month of his ban, Sinner practiced with Jack Draper, Lorenzo Sonego and Rune at his training base in Monaco.
At the start of his suspension, Sinner was banned from attending any sanctioned sports event.
“I wanted to support my friends in cycling or motorsport,” Sinner said. “I couldn’t go there. That, for me, was the toughest part.”
In March, professional cyclist Giulio Ciccone posted a photo on Instagram of himself posing during a bike outing with Sinner and Ferrari endurance drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Cahill has announced he will retire at the end of the year. Vagnozzi was asked if he would consider coaching Sinner alone.
“I would be able to do it on my own,” Vagnozzi said. “But with players of this level, it’s important to have another viewpoint. And it’s important to sometimes split up the weeks you spend with the player. Otherwise, it’s a 365-day-a-year job, and that’s a bit much.
“But I’m hoping that Darren stays on for another five years because we have such a great relationship. He might be the best coach ever in terms of results and other factors.”
Vagnozzi noted that Sinner is the fourth player Cahill has coached to No. 1 after Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and Simona Halep.
“But most of all, he’s a special person,” he said.
Sinner will open on Saturday against either No. 99 Mariano Navone or 18-year-old Italian wild card Federico Cinà. He enters on a 21-match winning streak but hasn’t played an official match since January.
The red clay at the Foro Italico has not traditionally been Sinner’s best surface. Only one of his 19 career titles has come on clay – in Umag, Croatia, in 2022.
“It’s definitely the surface where he is the least sure of himself,” Vagnozzi said. “But last year he had a good clay season – reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo and the French Open and the quarterfinals in Madrid. … So I think he can do well here, too.”
The last Italian man to win the Rome title was Adriano Panatta in 1976.