Daily Dose of Social Media: Sinner & Sonego kick off Halle Open with football fun, Sabalenka back on grass in Berlin

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, Jannik Sinner is getting ready for his return to the courts for the grass-swing, joining Lorenzo Sonego for a fun football session before heading to the court to play doubles starting this Monday. Additionally, the world No. 1 was seen training just meters away from João Fonseca as they both await their Halle Open debuts.

Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka has arrived in Berlin, fine-tuning the last details before her debut this Wednesday, just like her colleague Jasmine Paolini – a 2024 Wimbledon finalist – who shared a video of her training.

Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego are having fun before their Halle Open debut, as both enjoyed playing with a football alongside their team members. The Italians will pair up in the tournament's doubles draw, where they will debut this Monday against Alex Michelsen and Karen Khachanov. The world No. 1 is returning to doubles on Tour for the first time since Halle 2024, when he partnered with Hubert Hurkacz and reached the quarterfinals.

This time, Sinner will join Sonego, though neither will neglect their participation in the singles draw. The three-time Grand Slam champion will debut on Tuesday against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, while Sonego will face fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff on the same day.

Jannik Sinner was also on the tennis court, preparing for his return to action after losing the French Open final. In images captured by Tennis TV, he is seen working on his court while, on an adjacent court, none other than João Fonseca, who received a wildcard from the organization, was training. The Brazilian and the Italian were just a few meters apart, practicing on neighboring courts.

The teenager is looking forward to his first ATP 500 grass-court tournament, where he hopes to continue adding wins to build confidence for Wimbledon. His first test will be against Flavio Cobolli, also in a match to be played on Tuesday.

The Italian legion arrives with great ambitions for the grass-swing, one of them being Jasmine Paolini, 2024 Wimbledon finalist and recent winner of her second WTA 1000 title at the Rome Open. The world No. 5 defends a good amount of points over the next few weeks and will hope for a strong return to grass courts at the Berlin Ladies Open, where she is the 4th seed.

Paolini received a first-round bye as one of the top seeds and is still waiting to find out her first opponent after the surface change. Paolini will debut on Wednesday against the winner between Caroline Dolehide(qualifer) and Ons Jabeur (Lucky loser), while she will also feature in the women's doubles alongside her usual partner Sara Errani, with whom she won consecutive titles in Rome and Roland Garros – the first major doubles title for Paolini and the sixth for Errani (the five previous ones with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci).

Taylor Fritz was crowned champion of the ATP 250 Stuttgart Open after defeating world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the final. The American once again secured a title – his first of the season – and climbed back up the rankings to world No. 4, trailing only Alcaraz, Sinner, and Zverev himself. The 2024 US Open champion left his mark on the camera after securing his fourth grass-court title, signing "I’m back" alongside his signature.

Also following the tradition of signing the television broadcast camera was Germany's Tatjana Maria, who had a dream week, defeating four top-15 players and winning her first WTA 500 title at the Queen's Club Championships against Amanda Anisimova in the final. The German, who came through qualifying, won the most important title of her career at 37 years old, being an absolute surprise of the tournament. Maria signed "Queen of Queen’s" along with a heart, minutes before lifting the trophy.

Jelena Ostapenko celebrated her 28th birthday after an early exit at the French Open. The Latvian decided to take a few weeks off after the clay-swing and is still awaiting her return to the courts at Eastbourne International in a week's time, which will be her only preparatory tournament for Wimbledon on grass courts.

The 2017 Roland Garros champion fell in the third round in Paris, but nevertheless maintains a good ranking of world No. 19 heading into her next challenges. In a social media post, Ostapenko shared photos of her celebration with family and friends in the city of Riga, Latvia.

Aryna Sabalenka is preparing for her return to the courts after her Roland Garros final loss, and she showcased her good humor enjoying the grass courts of the Berlin Ladies Open. The Belarusian will look to overcome her second consecutive Grand Slam final defeat and hopes to rack up some wins before her return to Wimbledon – a tournament she missed in 2024 due due to injury.

The world No. 1 will probably be the strong favorite for the title after a nearly impeccable year, holding a wide lead over all her pursuers in the ranking – more than 3,000 points ahead of second-place Coco Gauff – meaning she is guaranteed several more weeks at the top of the ranking and will exit the All England Club still retaining the world No. 1 spot regardless of her result. Sabalenka missed three of the last five editions of Wimbledon, and in the two times she participated, she reached the semifinals (2021, 2023).

This time, she will look to gain rhythm on grass courts before traveling to London. In Berlin, she awaits her debut in the second round this Wednesday, where she will face the winner between Sofia Kenin and Rebeka Masarova, both players coming from qualifying.