“it's a rollercoaster”: Jannik Sinner admits pre-match doubts despite Rome comeback win

Jannik Sinner made his debut at the Rome Open with a victory against world No. 99 Mariano Navone, in front of a Foro Italico packed with Italian fans who came to see the world No. 1 in action for his return to the courts after a three-month absence.

With his appearance this Saturday, Sinner officially puts behind him the suspension he received – in agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency – which kept him out of competition for three months. Back on court and without playing his best tennis, he managed to overcome the Argentine clay-court specialist and advance to the Round of 32 of the tournament.

“Of course. It's normal to have doubts. Would be strange to not have any doubts. Would sound very arrogant, no?” Sinner acknowledged after his match with Navone. “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,” he added. “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,” the 3-time Grand Slam champion stated. “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.”

“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.

Sinner awaits his 3rd round match this Monday against lucky loser Jesper De Jong, who surprised Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (25th seed) to reach the top 32 of the Italian Open for the first time.