Sinner on the ‘rollercoaster inside’ despite comfortable opening win in Rome

Jannik Sinner may have appeared to pick up where he left off Saturday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, but even the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings acknowledged feeling some nerves during his first match for more than three months.

Competing for the first time since winning January’s Australian Open, Sinner eased past Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4 at the clay ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. In his post-match press conference, the top seed and home favourite was quick to point out that the relatively straightforward second-round scoreline was not reflective of how he found the path to victory on Campo Centrale.

“The whole match, even when it seemed quite comfortable, it was a rollercoaster,” said Sinner, when asked about the difference between practising and returning to a competitive match. “Especially inside we felt that. I would say especially the beginning of the match having, again, the nerves of serving for the first time, trying to move in the best possible way you can.

“That's it. It's different. 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. Today I felt quite good on court. I'm happy about that, so hopefully of course we are aiming for small improvements which are the small details that can make the difference.

“Tomorrow I have one day off, and hopefully we can use it in the best way.”

Sinner was presented with a hero’s welcome in Rome, where he is chasing his second tour-level title on home soil after his victory at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. He was roared on by a typically passionate crowd against Navone and the 23-year-old rewarded his fans with a confident display in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the Argentine.

“That means much more than any result, to be honest,” said Sinner of the fans’ reaction to his comeback at the Foro Italico. “It has been an amazing feeling to come here starting from the first practices with other players. We aimed and had a good schedule also with other players, so it was nothing like this. We tried to figure out what's the best way to get into rhythm.

“We are trying to aim to get better every day after day. Match days are different. It has been amazing for me. It's not only me. There are so many other Italians playing here, which makes the whole package even bigger. [Lorenzo] Musetti, his first time in the Top 10 playing here, and many other Italians. Matteo [Berrettini] is from here. It's amazing in Italian tennis what we have right now.”

Olé olé olé olé 🗣️ Sinner 🗣️ Sinner 🗣️@janniksin | #IBI25 pic.twitter.com/ydWMsCxQ0X

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 10, 2025

Now on a 22-match winning streak dating back to last October, Sinner’s next opponent in Rome will be lucky loser Jesper De Jong. He hopes to use his performance against Navone to help quickly shake off any lingering rust from his time away from the Tour.

“I feel like we prepared ourself in the best possible way,” said Sinner, who is 10-5 overall in Rome, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. “Of course, I was missing the feedback of official matches, which is the best feedback we players can get. At least now I have a bigger picture of what I'm doing well and what I have to improve.

“Of course, the nerves and everything, it has to go again into my body, trying to understand what we can do better the next round. But hopefully I can play here one or two matches more to see where I am at, which would be my main goal. Then all the rest is just a positive. It was a great start, from my point of view, of this tournament and of the comeback.”