Jannik Sinner may have low expectations about his return to tennis this weekend at the Italian Open after the end of his ban for doping offences, but that is in total contrast to the high expectations that Italian tennis fans have of him. Sinner missed the tournament last year through injury and so the crowds in Rome will be desperate to afford him a hero’s welcome, despite the controversy surrounding his absence from the ATP Tour since he won the Australian Open in January.
It is nearly half a century since an Italian man won the Italian Open, which is the biggest tournament in Italy and one of the “Triple Crown” of elite European clay-court tournaments alongside Monte Carlo and Roland Garros. Indeed, in the entire history of the Italian Open, which began in 1930 and so is approaching its centenary, only five Italian men have ever triumphed in the Eternal City.
Sinner is already the greatest Italian tennis player ever, having become the first Italian of either gender to reach world #1 as well as winning three Major singles titles. And with Italian tennis currently enjoying a “Tennaissance” that has encompassed Sinner’s amazing rise as well as triumphs in both the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, the stage is set for Sinner to be given the perfect homecoming.
But how will he fare? Will he struggle to find his feet again on clay, which is probably his least favourite surface, or will the unique fervour of the Roman fans inspire him to a classic comeback victory?
Assessing Sinner’s Chances In Rome
If Sinner had not been banned for so long, he would almost certainly be arriving in Rome as the overwhelming favourite. That is because he has not only enjoyed a tremendous year but a tremendous 18 months, beginning with his victory in Beijing in the autumn of 2023, which he followed up by leading Italy to their first Davis Cup victory since 1976, in the process beating Novak Djokovic twice in one day.
Sinner maintained that form throughout 2024, as he won the two hardcourt Majors in Melbourne and New York, helped Italy to retain the Davis Cup and achieved a 73-6 win-loss record for the season, which compares favourably with the greatest win-loss records in ATP Tour history. (The best remains John McEnroe’s still astonishing 82-3 record in 1984.) And of course he won a third Major in five when he also retained his Australian Open title at the start of this year.
However, it is never easy for any sportsperson to miss such an extended period, albeit that Sinner has not been injured, which is obviously the usual reason for such a prolonged absence. And it may be particularly hard for him to return halfway through the European clay court season, when his rivals have had a month to acclimatise to the demands of playing on clay in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.
Nevertheless, the fact that there have been three different winners of the biggest clay court tournaments so far – Carlos Alcaraz in Monte Carlo, Holger Rune in Barcelona and Casper Ruud in Madrid – is proof that no one player has really emerged to challenge Sinner’s current dominance. Indeed, the man who has probably enjoyed the best run while Sinner has been away is Britain’s Jack Draper, who won in Indian Wells and then reached the final in Madrid.
Consequently, Italian fans can be optimistic about Sinner making a winning return in Rome. If he can come through his first match this weekend against Argentina’s Mariano Navone, a clay court specialist who might just fancy his chances of catching Sinner cold in his first competitive match in three months, he has a chance of growing into the tournament and challenging at the end of it.
If Sinner does win in Rome, he will join the small number of Italian men who have triumphed at the Italian Open, completing a truly stellar six, or sei stellare, of male home champions in Rome. And here are the previous five Italian men to win the Italian Open, in chronological order.
The Five Italian Men To Win the Italian Open
- Emanuele Sertorio (Champion in 1933)
Emanuele Sertorio was the first Italian man to win the Italian Open, triumphing in 1933 in the fourth edition of the tournament. After the great American Bill Tilden, the first global star of men’s tennis, won the first edition in 1930 and France’s almost equally great Henri Cochet finished runner-up (to Britain’s Pat Hughes) in 1931, Sertorio was the first homegrown champion in Rome. And that victory was undoubtedly the greatest of his career, as he only ever played at two Majors (Roland Garros in 1932 and Wimbledon in 1933 and 1934).
- Giovanni Palmeri (Champion in 1934)
Ninety years ago, Italian tennis fans must have thought that they were witnessing a “Tennaissance”, because Sertorio was immediately followed as champion in Rome by Giovanni Palmeri. And to complete the impression that Italian tennis was on the rise in the 1930s, he beat a compatriot, Giorgio de Stefani, in the final. But of course that homegrown domination of the tournament was to prove short-lived. The worsening geopolitical situation in the run-up to World War Two led to the suspension of the Italian Open between 1936 and 1949, and in total it would be over 20 years before Rome could hail another Italian male champion.
- Fausto Gardini (Champion in 1955)
Fausto Gardini was probably the first real star of Italian tennis, three-quarters of a century before the emergence of Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Berrettini et al. A tall, expressive, even extrovert player who revelled in the passionate home support he enjoyed in Rome, he reached the quarterfinal at Roland Garros in 1953 and two years later triumphed in his national capital. Just like Palmeri in 1934, he defeated another Italian, Giuseppe Merlo, in the final, although in truth Merlo had to retire when the match was locked at 6-6 in the fourth set (like most men’s events, Rome was contested over five sets until the early 21st century) because he was suffering from agonising stomach cramps.
- Nicola Pietrangeli (Champion in 1957 and 1961)
If Gardini was the first star of Italian tennis, then Nicola Pietrangeli was its first superstar, becoming the first Italian tennis player to win a Major singles title when he triumphed at Roland Garros in 1959 and 1960. Either side of those French Open triumphs, he won the Italian Open twice, even beating the great Rod Laver in the 1961 final. Pietrangeli also led Italy to two Davis Cup finals, in 1960 and 1961. However, given that he was a clay-court specialist, like most of the Italian team (which also included Fausto Gardini), it was probably no surprise that the Italians lost heavily in both finals to the great Australian Davis Cup team of Laver, Emerson and Fraser on the rapid grass-courts of Sydney and Melbourne.
- Adriano Panatta (Champion in 1976)
It would be another 15 years before there was another home male champion in Rome, Adriano Panatta, whose victory in the 1976 final against Argentina’s Guillermo Villas was the first of his incredible hat-trick of titles that year. Less than a month later, Panatta won the French Open to claim his only Major singles title and he ended his annus mirabilis by leading Italy to their first ever Davis Cup triumph, starring as they beat Chile in the final in Santiago. Like Frances Tiafoe today, Panatta was the son of a caretaker at a tennis club who as a youngster mainly practised after the paying members had left, but in 1976 he went all the way to the top of the tennis world.
Main photo credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
