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Former world No 1 Boris Becker has explained why he thinks Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are each the greatest in their own way.

The ‘Big Three’ of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are widely considered to be the three best players in the history of men’s tennis.

From Federer’s first Grand Slam victory at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships to Djokovic’s most recent at the 2023 US Open, the legendary trio won 66 of the 81 majors held during two unparalleled decades of combined dominance.

Djokovic has won a record 24 major singles titles, while Nadal and Federer occupy second and third place on the all-time men’s Grand Slam list with 22 and 20 respectively.

Federer retired at the 2022 Laver Cup, while Nadal brought the curtain down on his career at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.

Djokovic, meanwhile, is still competing at the top level and is currently ranked sixth in the world. The 37-year-old secured his 99th and most recent title at the Paris Olympics in August and was also a runner-up at Wimbledon last year.

Becker coached Djokovic between 2014 and 2016 – during which time he helped his fellow great win six majors and 14 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

In an interview with El Mundo, Becker addressed whether it is possible to choose between the Big Three and give a definitive answer to the tennis GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) debate.

“I call them the three GOATs for a reason; each has been the greatest in his own way,” explained the German.

“If I had to explain their historical importance, I’d say Djokovic is the most successful, Federer the most popular, and Nadal the most feared.

“If you faced Rafa at Roland Garros, you knew there was nothing you could do. Beating him there was the only impossible feat in a sport where anything is possible.”

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Becker was also asked if the era he played in was the golden age of tennis, given he competed against a host of legends, including John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, and later: Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

“I wouldn’t say that out of respect for others, but it was certainly one of the best,” said the six-time Grand Slam champion.

“I suppose the other era that comes to mind is that of Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal. That was the best generation in history because it had the three GOATs.

“The only thing is that the gap between those three and the next was very large; they only lost to each other. We were ten at the top level.

“There will also be those who say that what happened was that these three were so good that they made the rest look worse than they were [laughs]. In any case, winning a tennis match is always difficult. Extremely difficult.”

READ NEXT: Boris Becker issues warning about Carlos Alcaraz and reveals Rafael Nadal quality ‘no other athlete’ will match

The post Boris Becker asked to compare Djokovic, Nadal, Federer era to his own golden generation appeared first on Tennis365.

Emma Raducanu has revealed she is planning to use the clay-court season to practice for the grass-court and hard-court swings in the second half of 2025.

Raducanu has made no secret of her discomfort on clay courts and she pulled out of playing in qualifying for last year’s French Open as she focused on preparing to play on grass in her British homeland instead.

Now she is showing more eagerness to play on clay and after picking up a win at the Madrid Open and turning in a battling performance despite a defeat against Marta Kostyuk in her second match, the displays provided evidence that she is making progress on clay.

Raducanu is back in the world’s top 50 after her positive performances in Madrid and she has a chance to go higher if she can win matches at the WTA 1000 event in Rome this week and then at the French Open later this month.

Yet it seems she is already looking ahead to a return to grass courts in June and the US hard court swing that will follow in August and September as she prepares to play a qualifier in her first match in Rome.

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“It’s a good challenge for my game,” said said as she spoke about playing on clay in an interview with Sky Sports Tennis.

“I want to work on doing things differently to try and bridge the gap between where I am now and where I want to be.

“I’m going to use the season to take pressure off, try and be more aggressive and play the way I want to more so, so it can help me on the other surfaces.

“I had some time off after Madrid and I’m working on feeling a bit more comfortable on this surface. I don’t think I’m fully there yet, but I’m just putting in the hard work and keeping going.

“It’s a good challenge for my game. I want to try and bridge the gap from where I am now to where I want to be.

“I just want to use this season to take the pressure off and play the way I want to so it can help me on the other surfaces.

“It is exciting, it does feel like a bit of a fresh start with the way I am approaching everything, with the people I have around, with my mindset and outlook.

“I feel more optimistic, I feel pretty positive about things going forward. I’m just taking it day by day and trying to stay consistent.”

Mark Petchey is working with Raducanu once again in his role as a part-time coach and she is enjoying the freshness he has brought to her camp since he started working with her during her run to the Miami Open quarter-finals in March.

“He’s not a super technical coach, there are certain tweaks, as always, but that is something I am going away from,” she continued..

“I have been very technical in the past, there has been a time and a place for that because I needed to make improvements.

“But from now on, it’s more about doing the right things, taking the ball on more, and just repetition of certain drills and patterns, which he is very good at setting up.”

Raducanu will discover who her first-round opponent in Rome will be when qualifying finishes on Tuesday and she could then face world No 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova in her second-round match.

Alexandrova is a player she beat at the Australian Open in January, but she may be less confident of getting a result in the re-match on a clay court.

READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu handed glorious chance to make a rankings breakthrough

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Emma Raducanu has admitted she is not at her best on clay courts, but she is about to be presented with a glorious opportunity to change how the rest of her season could look.

Raducanu showed signs of progress on clay courts as she won her opening match against Susan Lamens at the Madrid Open and then battled hard before losing against Marta Kostyuk in a tight second round encounter.

That win in Madrid allowed her to climb back into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings and there could be much more to come for the 2021 US Open champion as she looks to make further leaps forward.

Raducanu is in Rome for the second WTA 1000 clay court tournament of the season and the draw has given her a big chance to overhaul Katie Boulter to become British No 1 once again and possibly even get into a position to be seeded for Wimbledon in July.

The draw for the Italian Open has been reasonably kind for Raducanu, as she will play a qualifier in her opening match.

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If she wins that opener, Raducanu will face No 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova, who she beat at the Australian Open at the start of this year.

She also lost against Alexandrova at the Qatar Open in February, but the draw could have been much more challenging for unseeded Raducanu as she could have been paired with Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff or any of the highest-ranked players in the women’s game.

If she were to get past Alexandrova, another contest against Amanda Anisimova could be lying in wait in the third round, with her 2-0 winning record against the American making for impressive reading.

Raducanu beat Anisimova at the Australian Open in January and then also beat her convincingly in a one-sided match on her way to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.

World No 3 Coco Gauff is also in Raducanu’s section of the draw and if she were to get to the fourth round, it would represent her best performance in a WTA Tour clay court event.

Three wins in Rome would give Raducanu 120 ranking points and while that would not be enough to move past Boulter and reclaim the British No 1 ranking, she would be knocking on the of that achievement if she gets to the last-16 in Rome.

Raducanu opted against playing the French Open last year, so she has a chance to go for more points at Roland Garros this year, with her boosted ranking set to secure her direct entry into the draw for the second Grand Slam of 2025.

So while she may not be entirely comfortable on clay after playing limited matches on the surface in her formative days in tennis, she could be a handful of wins away from a return to the top 32 and potential seeding for Wimbledon in July.

She will have plenty of ranking points to defend when she gets to the grass court swing of the WTA Tour, so this next month is a great opportunity to find her feet on clay and she admits she is still a work in progress on the surface.

“I think it’s positive to get through and play two matches on the outdoor clay courts,” she stated after losing against Kostyuk in Madrid. “I would say that it is pretty noticeable to me that I don’t necessarily feel very comfortable, but I think that’s something that I can improve on and work on.

“It is my second proper clay season and the first one in three years. So I think I’m just trying to give myself a chance to play as many points as I can on it, and also [I need] time on the court training as well.

“I found moving really difficult. I felt like I was slipping around, but it was taking me a long time to get out of the corners and after the serve as well. I’m not really sure how to improve that, so I guess I’ll just take that back and try to work on it in the next week.”

British players tend to struggle on clay courts as they have little or no experience playing on the surface in a nation that does not have many high-quality courts covered in the red dirt, but Raudcanu has a chance to make some big leaps forward in the rankings if she can master the surface over the next two tournaments.

READ NEXT: WTA Italian Open draw: Sabalenka-Gauff rematch on cards, Raducanu faces qualifier, Eala gets tough opener

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Jannik Sinner has revealed the “hardest moment” of his three-month doping ban in his first press conference since his suspension officially ended.

World No 1 Sinner’s ban ended on Sunday (May 4th), with the Italian now cleared to compete on the ATP Tour.

The 23-year-old had been suspended from February 2025 after settling his longstanding doping case with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Sinner twice tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol in March 2024, successfully arguing to the International Tennis Integrity Agency that this was the result of contamination.

He was initially found to be of “no fault or negligence” and cleared to compete in August 2024, before WADA launched its appeal into the leniency of the ruling.

The Italian triumphed at the Australian Open in January but has not been in action since then, with his suspension officially starting on February 9th.

Sinner’s return to action comes on home soil at the Italian Open in Rome, with the world No 1 set to begin his campaign later this week.

The Italian has been able to train on officially recognised tennis sites since April 13th, though he was barred from official sporting venues at the start of his suspension.

Speaking in his first press conference in Rome, the 23-year-old admitted that this had been the “hardest” part of his ban.

“The hardest moment of the suspension was at the beginning,” said Sinner.

“I couldn’t attend any sporting event in real life. I don’t know how many people know this but I couldn’t go to the stadium to watch a football match or follow a cycling race of my friends. Or in motorsport.

“That for me was the toughest part. But all things considered, I tried to make the best of it. I was very glad also to spend time with my family.”

Despite only playing one tournament across the opening four months of 2025, Sinner still holds a comfortable lead as the world No 1, and is fourth in the ATP Race to Turin.

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Many have predicted that the three-time Grand Slam champion will quickly return to top form and contend for the Italian Open and Roland Garros titles across the next month.

Sinner is set to play his home Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2023, having skipped the event twelve months ago due to injury.

He reached the last eight in Rome back in 2022, though he has failed to reach the quarter-final in his four other appearances at the tournament.

Sinner is set to play in Rome and then at the ATP 500 Hamburg Open before Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of 2025.

And, despite what could be an emotional homecoming, the Italian concedes that his priority is to try and win a fourth major title in Paris – with “low expectations” for the coming fortnight.

He added: “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.

“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.”

As one of the seeded players in the Rome draw, Sinner will not start his campaign until the second round.

His first match post-ban will come in round two against either Italian rising star Federico Cina, or Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

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The waiting is over for Jannik Sinner as he prepares to return to action after a three-month drug ban, with his Italian fans preparing to give their hero a triumphant reception as he returns to tennis.

Images of the world No 1 being lauded in such lavish fashion after a doping ban may not sit well with some observers, but that will not dilute the reception Sinner will receive from his adoring public.

Carlos Alcaraz is also making his return in Rome after missing the Madrid Masters due to injury, with Novak Djokovic a notable absentee as the 24-time Grand Slam champion has opted to sit out a tournament that has always been one of his favourites.

Here are our big Tennis365 predictions for the final ATP Masters 1000 clay court tournament ahead of the French Open:

SAINT OR SINNER?

Jannik Sinner’s every move in Rome will be celebrated by Italian fans who believe he was hard done by after he was handed a three-month suspension following a positive doping test in March 2024.

Some in tennis have an alternative view, as they believe Sinner was responsible for the anabolic steroid entering his system and he was fortunate to escape with such a light punishment.

That story now needs to be banished to the history books and Sinner is returning to a tennis landscape that is there for him to dominate once again.

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Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have all had some challenges during Sinner’s time away from the game and his dominance at the top of the ATP Rankings highlights why expectations around the No 1 player in the world are so huge as he returns to action.

Verdict: Sinner may have been away from the game for three months, but he returns as favourite to win the Rome Masters and if he is at his best, he will get the job done.

ZVEREV’S WOES CONTINUE

Alexander Zverev must have been hoping his ATP 500 title in Munich last month would kick-start his troubled season, but the uncertainty that has undermined his ambitions since Sinner hammered him in the Australian Open final was in evidence once again as he lost against Francisco Cerundolo at the Madrid Masters.

Zverev’s serve has not been firing as he would have wanted in recent months and his tendency to his his forehand long is a recurring theme when his opponents get on top of him.

The German is defending champion in Rome and that will add to the pressure on Zverev as the 1,000 points he is defending will drop off his rankings total and he needs to retain his title to have any chance of stopping Alcaraz overtaking him as the world No 2 heading into the French Open.

Verdict: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jiri Lehecka are lurking in Zverev’s section of the draw and his uncertainty will be tested. He should reach the quarter-finals, but is not in the form to win.

ALCARAZ’S BIG GAMBLE

Carlos Alcaraz appeared to cast doubt over his hopes of playing in Rome when he pulled out of the Madrid Masters, but he has arrived at the Foro Italico to play in what will be his final warm-up event ahead of the defence of his French Open crown.

Alcaraz’s opening match in Rome will be a big test of his fitness and if he has any recurring fitness issues, don’t be surprised to see him withdraw from the tournaments as his Roland Garros defence has to be the priority.

Alcaraz is up to No 2 in the live ATP Rankings and a couple of wins in Rome will cement that position ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season, but it might be asking too much to expect the Spaniard to win in Rome when he is edging his way back to full fitness.

Verdict: A run to the quarter-finals would be welcome for Alcaraz as he looks to test his body, but he does not need to many gruelling matches in Rome.

LOOK OUT FOR

Casper Ruud’s win at the Madrid Masters may have been a significant moment in this year’s clay court season.

The Norwegian has long been one of the most threatening players on this surface, but he has come up short in the biggest events when he has reached the later stages.

Now that he has a Masters 1000 title on his record, the confidence will flow and he could be a threat in Rome, even though he has a tough draw with  Alexander Bublik and Matteo Berrettini in his section of the draw.

This could be another tournament for Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca to shine.

He has a potential match against a woefully out-of-form Andrey Rublev on his horizon in the second round and could also face a blockbuster showdown with Miami Open champion Jakub Mensic.

Verdict: Fonseca is good enough to come through his tough early matches if he is at his best and he could break into top 50 of the ATP Rankings if he has a good run in Rome.

READ NEXT: ATP Italian Open draw: Sinner handed tough pathway in comeback tournament, Alcaraz in Zverev’s half

The post Jannik Sinner’s perfect Rome comeback, rankings collapse for Alexander Zverev – Rome Masters predictions appeared first on Tennis365.

The Italian Open men’s singles draw has been revealed – with home favourite Jannik Sinner back in action for the first time since his Australian Open triumph.

World No 1 Sinner’s three-month suspension for a doping violation ended on Sunday, allowing the Italian to return to competitive tennis on home soil at the Foro Italico this week.

After receiving a round-one bye, the 23-year-old will face either world No 99 Mariano Navone or Italian 17-year-old Federico Cina in his first match back.

However, he could then be in line for tougher tests, with Sinner projected to face 25th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three, and 15th seed Frances Tiafoe in round four.

Sinner is then expected to face a quarter-final against sixth seed and newly-crowned Madrid Open champion Casper Ruud, before a semi-final versus fourth seed Taylor Fritz.

Three-time Rome semi-finalist Ruud could face a blockbuster third-round clash against 29th seed Matteo Berrettini, who will hope to be at full fitness on home turf after retiring injured in Madrid.

The Norwegian is also projected to face 12th seed Ben Shelton in the round of 16 before a hypothetical quarter-final against Sinner.

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Fourth seed Fritz was a Rome quarter-finalist back in 2024 and could face a tricky opening-match test against Madrid surprise package Gabriel Diallo, who opens against Marcos Giron.

The American is then projected to face 30th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the third round, before a potential fourth-round encounter versus 16th seed Andrey Rublev or 20th seed Jakub Mensik.

Fritz is in the same quarter of the draw as seventh seed Alex de Minaur, who faces a tricky opener against one of two Italians: Luca Nardi or Flavio Cobolli.

The bottom half of the draw is headlined by second seed Alexander Zverev and third seed Carlos Alcaraz, who are projected to meet in the semi-final.

Defending champion Zverev is searching for his third Italian Open title and, after a round-one bye, will start his campaign against a qualifier or Camilo Ugo Carabelli.

The German is projected to face 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in round three, and could face one of 13th seed Arthur Fils or 18th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round.

Zverev was drawn in the same quarter as eighth seed and home favourite Lorenzo Musetti, who is projected to face 10th seed and 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round.

Alcaraz will be making just his second main-draw appearance in Rome, having withdrawn from the event due to injury in 2024.

The Spaniard will face Jan-Lennard Struff or Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round, and is projected to face 31st seed Alex Michelsen in round three.

World No 3 Alcaraz is then projected to take on 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round, before a projected quarter-final versus fifth seed Jack Draper and semi-final versus third seed Zverev.

New world No 5 and Madrid runner-up Draper could face 32nd seed Sebastian Baez in the third round and ninth seed Holger Rune in the round of 16.

Read Next: WTA Italian Open draw: Sabalenka-Gauff rematch on cards, Raducanu faces qualifier, Eala gets tough opener

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Madrid Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff could get a rematch as early as the semi-final at their next event after they both ended in the same half of the Italian Open draw.

Sabalenka and Gauff faced each other in a 10th career meeting at the WTA 1000 Madrid event last week and it was the world No 1 who came out on top as she won the final in straight sets to draw level in the head-to-head rivalry with the American.

The three-time Grand Slam winner is once again the top seed for the Rome event and she will take on either Dayana Yastremska or Anastasia Potapova in the second round while she could meet 31st seed Sofia Kenin in the third round and 14th seed Daria Kasatkina in the fourth round.

Rising star Alex Eala is also in the first section and the Filipina youngster takes on Marta Kostyuk, who reached the quarter-final in Madrid, in the first round and if she gets past the Ukrainian she could face Kasatkina.

Sabalenka is projected to meet eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-final, but the Chinese star – who takes on either Katerina Siniakova or Olga Danilovic first up – will likely have to get past 11th seed Elena Rybakina in the fourth round.

If the seedings hold, then we will get a Sabalenka-Gauff semi-final.

Fourth seed Gauff opens up against either Arianna Zucchini or a qualifier while she could meet 15th seed Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round.

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Emma Raducanu also features in the third section and the 2021 US Open winner will face a qualifier first up.

There are several big names in the qualifying draw with the likes of Maria Sakkari, Katie Volynets and Ajla Tomljanović hoping to be among the 12 players to make the main draw.

If Raducanu passes the first test then she could meet 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova for a third time this year following their meetings in Doha and the Australian Open with Anisimova likely awaiting the winner of that contest.

Gauff is projected to meet Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-final, but the teenager will most likely have to beat the likes of Linda Nosková and 10th seed Emma Navarro en route to the last eight.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek headlines the bottom half and she starts against one of Elizabetta Cocciaretto and Elina Avanesyan before a possible third-round clash with Danielle Collins and a fourth-round match against 16th seed Elina Svitolina.

A run to the quarter-final will likely result in a clash against fifth seed Madison Keys or ninth seed Paola Badosa.

Badosa, meanwhile, could face Naomi Osaka in the second round, but the former world No 1 will have to get past wildcard Sara Errani.

Jessica Pegula is the highest-ranked player in Section 6 and the third seed is expected to face 13th seed Diana Shnaider for a place in the quarter-final while the winner of that encounter could meet Italian Jasmine Paolini.

Sixth seed Paolini has 27th seed Ons Jabeur, 17th seed Jelena Ostapenko and 12th seed Karolina Muchova in her section.

Projected WTA Italian Open Quarter-Finals By Seed

[1] Sabalenka vs Zheng [8]
[4] Gauff vs Andreeva [7]
[6] Paolini vs Pegula [3]
[5] Keys vs Swiatek [2]

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Aryna Sabalenka has been named as the “pretty firm favourite” to claim a first French Open title following her victorious Madrid Open campaign.

World No 1 Sabalenka dropped just one set across six matches to win a record-equalling third title in Madrid, dispatching fourth seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final.

It was a sixth final of 2025 for the Belarusian and a second in two clay events, having finished as the runner-up at the Women’s Stuttgart Open two weeks ago.

Sabalenka has never won a clay-court title outside of her three Madrid Open triumphs, and that is in part due to Iga Swiatek’s dominance on the dirt.

The Pole has won a total of 10 titles on clay, including four French Open titles in the space of five years.

Swiatek became just the third woman in the Open Era to win three straight Roland Garros titles in 2024 and, should she triumph in 2025, would become the first to win the event four years in a row.

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However, the 23-year-old has not reached a final since beating Jasmine Paolini on Court Philippe Chatrier a year ago, and has struggled with consistency at the latter stages of events in 2025.

That was highlighted by a stunning Madrid semi-final loss to Gauff, with the Pole winning just two games in an emphatic 64-minute defeat.

And, with Sabalenka sealing her third title of 2025, Swiatek’s chances of Roland Garros success have been questioned.

Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, pundit and former doubles star Colin Fleming has named Sabalenka as the leading contender to win the second major of the season.

He said: “I think she [Sabalenka] is now pretty firm favourite for Roland Garros, with all that has gone on as we stand here in Madrid

“Before this tournament started, I would still have picked Swiatek as the favourite, despite the fact she was out of form.

“I would have said I think she will find something in Madrid and Rome, and by the time Roland Garros comes around [she’ll be back in form].

“But although Iga made the semis and you would say it’s not a terrible result, the manner of the semi-final, I just think there is a question mark of how she will be in Rome and Roland Garros.”

Sabalenka has lifted three Grand Slam titles, triumphing at the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024, and the US Open last season.

The Belarusian has reached a further two Grand Slam finals, losing the 2023 US Open and 2025 Australian Open finals, though she has never reached a major final on a natural surface.

Her best French Open result came back in 2023 when she held a match point in her semi-final against the unseeded Karolina Muchova, only to fall in three sets.

Twelve months ago, Sabalenka’s campaign was disrupted by food poisoning as she suffered a shock quarter-final exit to Mirra Andreeva.

Both Sabalenka and Swiatek will be next be in action at the Italian Open, twelve months on from the two contesting the final in Rome.

Swiatek eased to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in that final and is a three-time champion in Rome, though she is under significant rankings pressure, with 1,000 points to defend.

The pair will be the top two seeds and will learn their fate when the women’s singles draw is revealed on Monday.

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Jannik Sinner’s three-month doping suspension officially ends on Sunday – and the world No 1 will be back on the practice court at an ATP event for the first time on Monday.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, 23, has not played since his Australian Open triumph in January and has been suspended since February 9, 2025.

The Italian’s position as the world No 1 has been largely unchallenged during his ban, and he will return to action at the Italian Open in Rome this week.

It will be Sinner’s first appearance at the event since 2023, having withdrawn due to injury in 2024, and he will likely receive a strong reception from his home fans in the Italian capital.

Men’s singles main draw action in Rome begins on Wednesday (May 7), though Sinner will not be in action straight away; as one of the seeded players, he receives a round-one bye.

However, his fans have been given an early chance to watch the world No 1 return to court.

Sinner’s first official practice on site will take place on Monday (May 5) at 7 pm local time, with fans given access to the two-hour session.

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It has now been confirmed that the world No 1 will be practising with Czech star and fellow 23-year-old Jiri Lehecka.

Lehecka is the winner of two ATP Tour titles, most recently claiming the title at the Brisbane International back in January.

The Czech reached a career-high ranking of world No 22 this February and is currently ranked as the world No 27.

However, he is projected to fall down to world No 38 on Monday having fallen in his opening match at the Madrid Open, failing to defend his semi-final points from 2024.

The Czech and Sinner will hope the practice session proves hugely beneficial ahead of the event, with both looking for a sharp return to form.

It will not be the first time that the Italian has practised with top-level players since his suspension, with Jack Draper and Matteo Berrettini among the stars to hit with him in his base of Monte Carlo.

Sinner was allowed to return to official practice on April 13, 2025, as per the terms of suspension.

However, his first official tournament practice taking place on his first day post-suspension sends a significant message to the ATP field that he is ready to take back control of the men’s game.

Sinner has won three of the last five Grand Slam titles and won eight ATP Tour titles in 2024, including the ATP Finals and three Masters 1000 victories alongside his Australian and US Open successes.

However, his controversial doping case has undoubtedly caused a huge stir among active players, particularly among his colleagues and rivals on the ATP.

All eyes will be on how players react to his return in Rome, with the build-up to his first match and campaign across the tournament likely to dominate media attention at the Masters 1000 event.

In a recent interview with Italian broadcaster TG1, the 23-year-old admitted he did not feel “at ease” around the locker room due to his Australian Open campaign.

He said: “In Australia, I didn’t feel at ease in the locker room or at the restaurant, the players looked at me differently and I didn’t like it at all.

“There I thought that living tennis in that way was really hard: I’ve always been someone who took tennis jokingly, I thought about taking some time off after Australia.”

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The fifth WTA 1000 event on the 2025 calendar has been completed and Aryna Sabalenka was the big winner as she won her third Madrid Open title.

With it came a big winner’s cheque and a healthy points haul that will give her an even bigger lead in the WTA Rankings while runner-up Coco Gauff edged closer to second-place Iga Swiatek in the standings.

World No 1 Sabalenka’s ninth WTA 1000 trophy helped her to take her overall title tally to 20, which puts her sixth on the list of active players with the most titles with Venus Williams leading the way on 49.

She is well adrift in terms of the all-time list as Martina Navratilova sits on 167, Chris Evert 157 and Steffi Graf 107.

The Belarusian, though, produced another dominant run in the Spanish capital as she dropped only one set en route to the title and that was in the third round against Elise Mertens.

The three-time Grand Slam winner also beat Anna Blinkova, Peyton Stearns, Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina before claiming a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win over Gauff in the final.

WTA Points Earned In Madrid

WTA 1000 title winners earn 1,000 points, but Sabalenka effectively only added 350 points to her total as she was defending 650 from her runners-up finish in 2024.

That, though, was still good enough to help her to become only the third player after Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek to pass the 11,000-point barrier since 2009 as she moved to 11,118 points.

Finalists are awarded 650 points and Gauff went home with 530 points as she dropped 120 from last year.

Swiatek and Svitolina were the two semi-finalists with 390 points on offer, but the former was -610 as she was the defending champion while the Ukrainian added 380 as she lost in the second round 12 months ago.

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Kostyuk, Moyuka Uchijima, Mirra Andreeva and Madison Keys (-175) exited the tournament in the quarter-final stage with 215 points on the spell. Kostyuk earned 205, Uchijima 107, Andreeva 0 (she also reached the last eight in 2024) and Keys was -175 as the American was a semi-finalist last year.

World No 3 Jessica Pegula (+65), No 6 Jasmine Paolini(-55) and No 10 Elena Rybakina (-325) lost in the third round and they all dropped points.

Meanwhile, youngsters Emma Raducanu and Alex Eala both lost in the second round and the former added 25 points to her tally while Eala was 0 as she lost at the same stage last year.

WTA Money Earned In Madrid

Sabalenka walked away with €985,030 (roughly $1,11m) for her efforts over the fortnight as she took her 2025 earnings to just over $4m while her career earnings are now more than $34m.

Runner-up Gauff earned €523,870 (about $592,000) and her earnings for the year grew to $2m.

Swiatek and Svitolina each earned €291,040 while quarter-finalist Kostyuk, Uchijima, Andreeva and Keys received €165,680. It is a big total for Uchijima as the Japanese star had earned only $297,424 so far this year while her career earnings was $1,371,973 before the event.

Raducanu and Eala eached received €30,895 following their second-round exits. Just over a month ago Eala earned $332,160 for her run to the semi-final of the Miami Open while Raducanu’s biggest cheque to date was the $2,500,000 she earned for winning the 2021 US Open.

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