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Jannik Sinner has attempted to play down the hype surrounding his return to tennis, but Andy Roddick and Jim Courier have dismissed his pre-tournament comments and backed the world No 1 to return to form with a bang.

Sinner is returning to action after a three-month suspension after he failed drug tests in March 2024 and the Italian has claimed he cannot be expected to return to top form after a long break from the game.

“I have to say I have low expectations for this tournament. I’ve been sitting out for so long and I don’t have any feedback on how I’m going to play,” said Sinner, in a press conference that started when he was bizarrely applauded into the room by euphoric members of the Italian media.

“The goal will be Paris. I’m not here to beat anyone but to try to get through the first round and then we’ll see what can happen. It’s difficult for me to start a new tournament and get back to the rhythm.

“But we’re very calm, we’re physically and mentally well, we’re rested, which will pay off at the end of the season too.”

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Sinner may be keen to suggest he is not the favourite to win the title in front of his adoring fans in Rome, but Roddick has told the Tennis Channel that he has to be viewed as the man to beat in every tournament he enters.

“He is doing a great job of being a rational thinker, but he is No 1 in the world,” said Roddick.

“I understand there are going to be lower expectations, but he is still the No 1 player in the world and he has been the dominant force in tennis for the last 18 months.

“There is only so low that the expectations can go around Jannik Sinner.

“There are more questions surrounding him and there are going to be moments in this tournament when it’s not the perfect version of Jannik Sinner.

“I don’t know if he’s going to win the tournament, but I like him to win two or three matches.”

Courier is also convinced Sinner will bounce back in style, as he suggested the early round in Rome may be his biggest concern.



“The guy hasn’t lost a match since October and the only loss he’s taken recently was from WADA,” said Courier, referring to his drug test case with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“I have no reason to think that his level is not going to be where it needs to be, but he will be vulnerable in the first couple of matches.

“He is managing expectations. You should not expect pure honesty from players in press conferences. They are protecting themselves.

“If he comes out and says I expect to win this tournament, people are going to start taking shots at him saying he is too arrogant.

“He has the worst draw he could possibly get coming back because he is going to be tested from the third round on.”

Courier went on to suggest a potential match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo could test Sinner if they meet in the fourth round in Rome.

“The danger match is Cerundolo,” he added. “He is in form, he’s got confidence, he’s got a nasty game on all surfaces bar grass. That’s the game where you really need to be sharp.”

READ NEXT: Dan Evans lambasts Jannik Sinner’s Rome return: ‘Pretty convenient’

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Emma Raducanu proclaimed that her battling three-set opening round victory at the 2025 Italian Open gives her “a lot of confidence.”

The world No 49 defeated 78th-ranked qualifier Maya Joint 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-3 in the opening round at the Foro Italico.

Raducanu recovered from 4-2 down to win the opening set, but she lost the second set on a tiebreak after serving for the match at 5-4.

In the deciding set, Raducanu responded strongly as she surged into a 5-0 lead, and she staved off another fightback from Joint to prevail after two hours and 44 minutes.

The 22-year-old was playing just her second match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome after a first round defeat in 2022. She missed the event through injury in 2023 and chose to skip it last year.

Raducanu was impressed by Joint and predicted that her 19-year-old Australian opponent will climb the rankings quickly.

“It was a really hard battle. Maya played an amazing match and such a high level. And I think I did as well,” the Brit said.

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“I think that the overall level of the match was really high and she’s flown up the rankings. I mean, playing like this, I think she’s gonna go up really fast, really quick. I’m really proud of myself as well, because that was a great performance, I think, on all fronts.

“It gives me a lot of confidence because it’s not just clay – it’s at night, it’s heavy. I think with the new balls, it was still flying, but the balls got old pretty quickly and it was very cold.

“So I’m really proud. I take a lot of confidence from this win, not just because I won, but I think the level in general was really high, and I think I was committing to my shots, which is what I said I wanted to do, and I was really going for it.”

Jane O’Donoghue was the lone coaching presence in Raducanu’s box as Mark Petchey was preoccupied with his commentary role for American broadcaster Tennis Channel.

“Petch, I think was on comms of my match, so I hope he was nice to me (laughs),” the 2021 US Open champion said.

Raducanu will face 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round in Rome. She holds a 1-1 record against the 30-year-old Russian.

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Novak Djokovic has the desire to continue playing until at least the 2028 Olympic Games, according to the CEO of Lacoste — his clothing manufacturer.

The tennis legend has been a brand ambassador for iconic French designer sports company Lacoste since 2017, and he extended his agreement until 2025 in 2021.

Questions have been raised about Djokovic‘s tennis future in recent months, with the Grand Slam record holder enduring a difficult season.

Djokovic produced encouraging performances at both the Australian Open and the Miami Masters, but he has lost his first match at four of the seven tournaments he has entered in 2025.

The former world No 1 is set to turn 38 later this month, and he is on a three-match losing streak after defeats in Madrid, Monte Carlo and Miami.

The Serbian withdrew from the ongoing Italian Open without giving a reason, suggesting his desire to compete outside the Grand Slams is limited.

Djokovic won his 24th and most recent major at the 2023 US Open, while he secured his 99th and latest singles title at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Thierry Guibert, Lacoste’s CEO, expressed his confidence that Djokovic will renew his deal with the brand and claimed retirement is still a long way off for the world No 6.

“Novak wants to go at least until the Los Angeles Games [in 2028],” Guibert said in an interview with L’Equipe.

“I have no doubt that we will find common ground in the coming weeks. We are mainly discussing the type of renewal.

“Since we signed him, he has won half of his Grand Slams with us. He has contributed a lot to the brand.”

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Following his historic gold medal triumph in Paris in August, Djokovic expressed his appetite to defend his Olympic title in Los Angeles.

“I still want to play in Los Angeles,” Djokovic said.

“I enjoy playing for my country, and the Olympic Games particularly, and Davis Cup, being part of the team.”

Djokovic, who delivered an incredible performance to down Carlos Alcaraz in the gold medal match at Stade Roland Garros, added: “Everything that I felt in that moment when I won really surpassed everything I thought or hoped that it would.

“I thought that carrying the flag at the opening ceremony [at the 2012 London Games] was the best feeling ever until I experienced this today.

“And being on that court with the Serbian flag raising, singing the Serbian anthem, with the gold around my neck, I think nothing can beat that in terms of professional sport. It definitely stands out as the biggest sporting achievement I had.”

Djokovic is next scheduled to compete at the French Open, where he will revisit the site of his Olympic triumph for the first time.

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Dan Evans has branded Jannik Sinner’s return to the professional tour at the Rome Masters ‘pretty convenient’, ahead of the Italian’s anticipated comeback.

The statements come just days after Sinner’s three-month suspension from competing came to an end, with the world No 1 returning to action on Saturday.

Sinner accepted the suspension in February after a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), one which made clear that both sides agreed that the Italian did not ‘intend’ to intake the banned anabolic steroid clostebol.

“The whole thing is pretty convenient,” Evans commented, whilst speaking on BBC Five Live Sport.

“I think a lot of the players are thinking [that] the comeback in Rome, which massive for Italian tennis, it seems pretty convenient. By the way, like Broads said, this is not Jannik’s problem, this is a tennis problem.

“From the outside, from the public, they’re looking in and thinking that he’s had preferential treatment. The ranking being where it is [ATP world No 1] kind of adds to that as well, and I think it’s a difficult one to pick the bones out of.”

The controversy first started in August, after it was announced that Sinner had failed two doping tests in March 2024.

These results were not revealed until late summer, due to an independent tribunal finding that the world No 1 had ‘no fault or negligence’ for the failed tests.

“I think that the issue has been that people felt that he’s received preferential treatment,” Naomi Broady added.

“I think that’s what a lot of the players have not been happy about. It’s the lack of consistency. Even the fact that you can come to an agreement for how long you are banned, it should just  – the goalposts shouldn’t move.

“If you’ve tested positive, that’s your ban. I don’t know why you should be able to negotiate, that, to me, doesn’t make much sense.

“Even the way that he was still able to play whilst the case was ongoing, for all of the other players, if you test positive, you sit on the sidelines and you wait. We seen that, with Simona Halep, you sit on the sidelines and wait. For some people, it is years, it can take a really long time.”

Sinner was found to have ‘no fault or negligence’ due to the Italian claiming that his physio had used an over-the-counter cream – which contained the steroid – to treat a minor finger wound on himself, before giving a massage to the Italian.

However, WADA sought to overturn the independent tribunal’s findings and argued that the three-time Grand Slam champion carried some level of responsibility for his team’s actions – dropping their appeal after the settlement was reached.

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Since the August revelation, Sinner has split with fitness coach Umberto Ferrara and physio Giacomo Naldi – the former of whom recently joined the team of Matteo Berrettini.

“Even though he knew he had tested positive because of the physio [in April], they only parted ways when he received the ban,” said Broady.

Evans further argued: “One of his best friends [Berrettini] is using the same physio, the Italians have no issue with this physio, clearly. For three months, he’s clearly not bothered about what has happened and the process of it all.”

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Patrick Mouratoglou has admitted he was “very surprised” by the comments Juan Carlos Ferrero made about Carlos Alcaraz’s commitment to tennis.

Alcaraz‘s Netflix documentary series, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, was released last month, and the Spanish star’s approach to his career was the central theme.

The four-time major champion stressed that he wants to achieve his lofty ambitions without compromising his happiness.

“Right now my biggest fear of all is ending up seeing tennis as an obligation,” Alcaraz explained.

“Sometimes I feel like I am enslaved to tennis and that causes anxiety, frustration, doubts.”

Ferrero, who has coached Alcaraz since September 2018, also featured in the series.

The former world No 1 made a revealing admission about Alcaraz’s philosophy being at odds with the way his team sees the sport.

“His understanding of work and sacrifice is so different from ours,” said Ferrero. “It’s so different that it makes me doubt whether ‘his way’ of doing things will help him become the best in the world.”

Mouratoglou, a renowned coach who currently works with Naomi Osaka, gave his verdict on Ferrero’s choice to publicly question Alcaraz.

“First of all, what Carlos has accomplished at a young age is unbelievable,” the Frenchman said in an Instagram video.

“I was very surprised to read that his coach said publicly that he was not committing 100%. It will bring a lot of criticism. It’s really difficult to manage that.

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“Apparently, the way he deals with pressure is to not commit 100%, which is actually a behaviour that is quite usual for professional athletes. That’s a way to take pressure away.

“Is it the right way? For sure not. I would try to solve the problem between him and me. He (Ferrero) probably did try and probably doesn’t work, so probably, he goes to the next level. Ferrero is trying to motivate his player.

“Is it the right way? I don’t know. If it works, then bravo. If it hurts the player and hurts the relationship between the two, then I would say it’s not a good job.

“So, we will see what are the consequences — the positive one or the negative one, or maybe a bit of both. Let’s see how Carlos received it. Maybe he will have a reaction to that, a positive one. But it’s risky.”

Alcaraz will play Yoshihito Nishioka or Dusan Lajovic in his first match at the Italian Open as he seeks his third title of the 2025 season.

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Former world No 1 Carlos Moya has asserted that Carlos Alcaraz’s goal of becoming the greatest player of all time in his own way will be “complicated.”

Alcaraz opened up about his philosophy to his life and tennis career in his recently released Netflix documentary series: Carlos Alcaraz: My Way.

The four-time Grand Slam champion explained: “What I would like is to be the best in history. It’s my dream, but one of the keys for me is to enjoy myself. I’m the type who likes to spend time at home, which tennis doesn’t allow you to do.

“I’ve lived a short time and I have a lot left to live. And right now I want to decide for myself. And if I make a mistake, I want to make it for myself. I’m paving my way to becoming the best player in history. And I want to do it my way.”

The Spanish star added: “Right now my biggest fear of all is ending up seeing tennis as an obligation. Sometimes I feel like I am enslaved to tennis and that causes anxiety, frustration, doubts.”

Moya, who coached tennis legend Rafael Nadal from 2017 until his retirement last year, shared his thoughts on the approach Alcaraz outlined in the documentary.

“It’s a viable option if you want to win Grand Slams in the short term. In the long term, it’s complicated because tennis is a long-distance race,” Moya said at an event with businessman Pedro Escudero.

“I see myself a bit like Alcaraz. I was 21 too, but it’s true that I was at a different level than him. The thing is, my ambition was never to be the best in history. Perhaps that’s what’s shocking. Wanting to be the best in history in that way.

“Can he become one [of the best in history]? I see it as difficult even if he has a normal life. Being a slave to tennis is already very complicated… Although it’s clear that, given his level, he can be.

“Of the three who have achieved it, no one has done it the way he says, but he’s still a guru or a pioneer and he’ll achieve it.

“On the other hand, that’s what he thinks now at 21. Maybe in two years he’ll get a little tired of what he says about living life. Maybe in two years he’ll reach the maturity to live those two years to the fullest.

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“He’s living in the moment and he also has the right to; he’s earned it. He’s a great player; he’s won four majors. Sometimes we forget about this, but it’s incredible.”

The 1998 French Open champion continued: “Perhaps Alcaraz is demanding something of himself that doesn’t exist. He may be close to perfection at times, but he’s 21. He’s going to improve, he’s going to stabilise, and that will give him time.

“You can’t rush certain things. Nobody comes close to perfection at 21. Experience, life, and past situations are what lead you to that.

“No matter how much he’s lived and won, he still has a lot of life left to live, and those things are what will take him to his highest level, whatever that may be. He’s becoming a unique player, and everyone enjoys watching him play.”

Moya also shut down the notion that Nadal was a “slave to tennis.”

“Rafa had a great life outside of tennis, perhaps not so much attending events, Formula 1, or motorcycling, but he had a very full life off the court,” the Mallorcan added.

“I know him well and I know he had his hobbies and enjoyed his free time. Rafa was not a slave to tennis.

“It’s impossible to win what he (Alcaraz) has won without discipline, without hard work. He’s 21 years old and has the right to live what he’s saying. He doesn’t hurt anyone and he keeps winning.

“Is that sustainable in the long term? It’s difficult, but he already has his team, who advise him, who direct him, and who tell him things as they see fit.”

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Emma Raducanu believes her coaching agreement with Mark Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue is “working pretty well”, but former world No 21 Dan Evans has raised concerns about the long-term future.

2021 US Open winner Raducanu started working with Petchey during the Miami Open and they enjoyed instant success as she reached the quarter-final of the WTA 1000 event, resulting in a return to the top 50 of the WTA Rankings.

Both parties have made it clear that for now it is an ad-hoc partnership as Petchey also works as a tennis commentator, meaning he won’t be able to mentor Raducanu at all tournaments.

But that is where Jane O’Donoghue, a former Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) national women’s coach, comes into the picture as she is expected to step in when Petchey is unavailable.

Although the agreement is off to a solid start, former British No 1 Evans feels things will get complicated when Raducanu starts to lose matches.

“It can’t last if she starts losing matches and Petchey is in the commentary box. That’s not going to work,” he told BBC 5 Live Tennis.

“I think Emma will be looking for a new coach again pretty soon if she starts to lose some matches on the grass into the US swing. I’m not sure how that can last as it is.”

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Both Petchey and O’Donoghue – who is currently on a sabbatical from her full-time job – are with Raducanu in Rome this week for the Italian Open, but the latter’s agreement is also short-term as she won’t be available next year when she returns to her job in finance.

“It’s been working pretty well,” the world No 49 told BBC Sport.

“Mark is doing his commentary work and around that he is going to help me as much as he can and hopefully the times align that he can be there with me in the matches.

“That’s why Jane is here for when he’s not able to make it to the session.

“While she’s not working it’s nice to have her as much as possible, but she will go back to work and then I need to figure another solution out.”

The big question is who will support Petchey when O’Donoghue is no longer available.

Raducanu added: “I just need to work on who that person is.”

With both Petchey and O’Donoghue by Raducanu’s side for now, they have been tasked to help her to take her game to the next level.

“I feel slightly better than I did in Madrid,” the British No 2 said.

“I want to use this period of the clay season to try and work on certain things in my game that I think are going to help me bridge the gap to the next level.

“I want to take more balls on, I want to be more aggressive in certain points – I want to structure the points more on my terms.

“I know I may make more errors doing that, but I’m willing to go through that.”

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After a stunning exit at the Madrid Open, Iga Swiatek will look to right the ship in Rome.

The manner of Swiatek’s 6-1, 6-1 loss to Coco Gauff shocked many, with the world No 2 suffering one of the worst losses of her career to an opponent she had never previously lost to on clay.

The Pole ultimately failed to defend her title in the Spanish capital but will hope for better fortune at the Italian Open, where she is looking to defend her title, and win the event for a fourth time overall.

However, she is under significant rankings pressure heading into action at the WTA 1000 event, with both Gauff and Jessica Pegula closing in.

As it stands

As of Monday (May 5), Swiatek held on to her world No 2 ranking but dropped to 6,773 points after her Madrid Open semi-final exit, failing to defend her title – and 1,000 points – from 2024.

Having made her first Madrid Open final, Gauff moved back up to world No 3 on 6,603 points; she would have overtaken the Pole had she won the title in the Spanish capital.

Falling behind Gauff in the WTA Rankings was Pegula, who dropped one place to world No 4 despite increasing her points tally to 6,243.

However, despite being the world No 4 in the WTA Rankings, it is Pegula who is currently world No 2 in the WTA Live Rankings.

With no points to defend in the Eternal City, the 31-year-old is currently up to second in the provisional rankings due to Swiatek and Gauff’s projected loss of points.

Gauff is currently dropping 390 points after her semi-final run in 2024, with 6,213 points on her live ranking – though she remains as the world No 3 as things stand.

However, with 990 points dropping off her ranking as the defending Rome champion, Swiatek is currently down to 5,783 points – and to world No 4.

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Remaining as the world No 2 could be crucial for Swiatek’s hopes of success at the French Open, which starts later this month, though she must significantly better Gauff and Pegula’s result in Rome.

With Pegula on 6,243 live points and Gauff on 6,213 live points, the Pole must reach at least the final to have any chance of staying as the world No 2.

A runner-up finish would leave Swiatek on 6,423 points once the event is complete, while a run to the title would see her stay on her official pre-tournament total of 6,773 points.

However, if she were to lose in the semi-final, she would earn only 390 points in Rome and hold 6,163 points once the event is complete, behind what both Pegula and Gauff have already secured without hitting a ball.

If Gauff was to reach the semi-final and defend her 390 points from last year, Swiatek would need the American to lose in the last four and ultimately defend her title to stay in front.

Gauff and Swiatek are on opposite sides of the draw and, should they meet in the final, the American would be guaranteed to overtake the Pole regardless of the result.

The American will hold 7,203 points with a run to the title and 6,853 points with a runner-up finish, both ahead of Swiatek’s maximum achievable total of 6,773 with the title.

Pegula is on the same side of the draw as Swiatek, and the two are projected to meet in the semi-final.

Due to the WTA Rankings system, she can achieve a maximum of 7,135 points if she were to win the title, below Gauff’s tally – despite being ahead in the WTA Live Rankings.

To stay ahead of Pegula and remain as the US No 1, Gauff must beat Pegula’s result by at least one round.

If they were to meet in the final, whoever lifted the title would end the tournament as the world No 2, with the runner-up as the world No 3.

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To the tennis fans of Italy, Jannik Sinner is their undisputed king.

A little like those defiant Donald Trump ‘fans’ in America, Sinner is an untouchable hero who can do no wrong in the eyes of his followers and they may explain why they may have missed the sensitivities of the events the sport of tennis is trying to navigate this week.

We have to appreciate that Italian tennis has waited a long time for a champion to emerge in a nation craving success, so Sinner’s success in lifting three Grand Slam titles over the last 18 months and guiding his country to back-to-back Davis Cup wins has put him on a pedestal that he may never step down from.

For many years, the travelling Italian media pool has been among the most populous and vocal in the tennis press rooms around the world, even though they didn’t have too much to shout about at the back end of Grand Slam events.

All that has changed with the emergence of world No 1 Sinner, while world No 9 Lorenzo Musetti, former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi are enjoying success on the ATP Tour.

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Jasmine Paolini is leading the Italian charge in the women’s game, with their success in last year’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals confirming Italy is the dominant nation in tennis right now.

Yet the brutal reality must be that the outside world may be viewing the ‘triumphant’ return of Sinner in a slightly different light.

The harsh truth is we are talking about a tennis player who tested positive for an anabolic steroid that could be performance-enhancing and is now making a return to action after what was a controversial ban.

Whether you buy into the reason Sinner has given to explain why Clostebol got into his system or not, with his suggestion that the cream used by his former physio to treat at cut inadvertantly entered his system during a massage, the basic facts are that this is a tennis player who failed a drug test and cut a deal with the World Anti-Doping Agenca to conveniently ensure he didn’t miss any Grand Slam tournaments.

So the images of Sinner being cheered into the press room for his pre-tournament press conference will have been condemned by many who are also been accredited to report on this year’s Italian Open.

The general rule in tennis is the media do not clap players on court or in press conferences unless that achieve something truly remarkable or maybe at the end of their career, so applause for a player returning from a drug ban in press tournament press conference will be viewed as embarrassing and unprofessional behaviour from those who took part in the moment.

Scenes of Sinner being lauded with cheers and adoration everywhere he goes ahead of his return to action in the Italian Open will not sit well with some and that may also include the star at the centre of this storm.

It may be that Sinner is also a little uncomfortable with the spotlight that is inevitably shining on him as he makes his comeback in Italy’s capital, but he can’t stop the euphoria building around him.

This likeable sportsman doesn’t appear to be the type who revels in the media glare and he may well have preferred to avoid the relentless rounds of media interviews and questions about his failed drug tests that he knew were coming his way on his media day on Monday.

Yet he politely answered the questions that came his way, with his comments in an interview with Sky Sports Tennis highlighting the challenges he has been through since the positive doping results in March 2024.

“At the start, I was a bit confused because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,” said Sinner.

“Then I went home and stayed with my family. I tried to understand better what was important to me.

“I know how many sacrifices I made and my daily routine was always practice, practice, practice. But at that moment, I didn’t have any of that.

“I came to understand that what’s important to me are the people by your side. They give you the strength to move forward and continue smiling.

“I didn’t want to do it in the beginning, and also it was a bit not easy for me to accept it, because I know what really happened,” Sinner said of the ban.

“But sometimes we have to choose the best in a very bad moment, and that’s what we did. So, it’s all over now. So, I’m happy to play tennis again.”

It is not those who live in the tennis bubble who will look in on the acclaim Sinner is receiving in Rome with a critical eye, as we have full knowledge of this story and appreciate that the athlete was almost certainly not cheating when his positive doping test was recorded.

Yet the world No 1 in any sport is a standard bearer and that is why the euphoric reaction from the Italian tennis community to the return of their champion may be seen through a different lens outside of their country.

Those hailing Sinner as the returning hero probably don’t care if critics view their response in a negative light, as they have sided with the player from the start of this story and will make no apology for celebrating his comeback.

Tennis needs to hope the damage caused to its reputation by the image of the world No 1 being banned for a positive doping test is not tarnished further by what some could view as misguided acclaim for a player returning from a doping ban.

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