Jannik Sinner could not play between January and May as he was serving a suspension for failing two drug tests in March 2024. No one would have blamed him had he bounced out of the Italian Open early. Practicing tennis is fine, but real matches can be tough.
Sinner did not look rusty against Argentinian Mariano Navone, though. Navone played some of the best tennis of his career, often walloping forehands close to 100 mph, but he still found himself down a break in the first set. The match appeared like it was going to be easy for Sinner.
When Sinner began his suspension, he was the ATP No. 1 by a wide margin. Due to Alexander Zverev's and Carlos Alcaraz's failures in his absence, Sinner maintained his top ranking. He did not play in Rome last year, which means he will instantly gain points.
Jannik Sinner blows past Mariano Navone at the Italian Open
If he plays as he did against Navone, defeating the Italian will be challenging. Can he play better? Yes, but he proved his fitness was high-level, and he moved the court as well as he ever has. He pushed Navone to make one or two more shots to win a point than he might otherwise have needed.
In other words, Sinner treated Navone like almost every other player. He is currently the best men's player, and he showed that it will not change for the foreseeable future.
Against Navone, he had 21 winners and 24 unforced errors. Sinner pressed forward and kept the Argentine off-balance. Against a better player, Sinner would have had more difficulty, but he probably still would have won.
He also struggled a bit with his serve in the second set, dropping a game. He got the break right back, though. He will next play Jesper de Jong in round three.