Jannik Sinner is drawing ever closer to making his return to tennis ahead of Roland Garros.
Sinner was banned for three months back in February, after accepting a deal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following two positive tests last year.
The Italian has consistently declared his innocence of any wrongdoing during this time, with Sinner’s case splitting opinion on the ATP Tour.
Sinner has been training ahead of his return at the Italian Open, where he will look to get some match practice in ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year.
Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesAndy Roddick says if he thinks Jannik Sinner can win the French Open
Sinner last competed at the Australian Open, where he defended his title to claim his third Grand Slam.
Despite his absence from the ATP Tour, Sinner has remained as world number one and will still be in that position when he returns.
Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Looking ahead to Sinner’s comeback, former world number one Andy Roddick has previewed his chances at Roland Garros.
“I don’t think it’s going to be his best surface, when he has two feet firmly planted on cement that is where he is going to be dominant,” Roddick said on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast. “But, he could have won the French Open last year, he was like weirdly close to winning the French Open last year, so I think he is absolutely capable.
“Just a couple of extra balls, he is not going to just blow people off the court, not like we’ve seen on the other courts and he doesn’t get much work on his serve. He has improved that wide serve on the deuce side so much more on the hard court, he is going to have to set the table in different ways on the clay.”
Sinner reached the Roland Garros semi-finals for the first time last year, where he led eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz by two-sets-to-one before losing in five sets.
Andy Roddick explains what he expects to happen to Jannik Sinner at the Italian Open
Before he can think about Roland Garros, Sinner will have his eyes firmly set on his home Masters 1000 event in Rome.
Sinner missed the Italian Open last year due to a hip injury, and Roddick is expecting him to have some nerves on his return to the spotlight.
“Who knows, I mean I worry about him zero over the long term, but if it’s just the small sample size of Rome. A small sample size can tell a lot of stories Steve [Weissmann],” said Roddick. “I’m not worried about the way he hits the ball, I’m not worried about his movement.
“I thought he looked great on the clay last year, we kind of forget that he was a set away from beating Carlos Alcaraz in the semis of Roland Garros last year, so I think he’ll be fine long term.
“Will he have jitters in Rome in front of the home crowd? Remember he didn’t get to play in Rome last year either, so since he’s become the Jannik Sinner, the legend Grand Slam winning number one Jannik Sinner he hasn’t played in Rome, so there are obviously going to be jitters.”
Sinner will return at the Italian Open, where main draw action of the men’s tournament will get underway on Wednesday May 7.
The 23-year-old is also entered to play the Hamburg Open that will be held the week before Roland Garros.