When Jannik Sinner walks onto Phillippe Chatrier, Roland-Garros’ number-one court, on Monday evening, those watching will be anticipating more than the world number one’s first round at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Sinner returns to the French capital not just as the US and Australian Open champion, but on the heels of a well-publicised – and much debated – three-month ban from the sport after reaching a charged settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency following his win in Melbourne at the start of the year.
Sinner had initially been found to bear no fault or negligence for testing positive on two occasions for banned substance clostebol, which infected the three-time Grand Slam champion after it was used to treat a cut on the finger of his then-physio.
But WADA lodged their appeal against the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s verdict in September, casting a pall over the sport as Sinner’s position at the top of the ATP continued to look otherwise unassailable.
In the end, a relatively short suspension was handed down, lasting from early February to the start of May.
This month saw Sinner return to action, fittingly, at his home tournament, the Italian Open, in Rome, looking much like the player fans last saw in January. But while he might have returned to the tour as if he had never left, the truth of what he was doing during the suspension is knottier.
Jannik Sinner will play his second tournament since his three-month suspension in Paris
Away from the rigours of the ATP tour, Sinner has been forced to focus on other pursuits
A former childhood ski champion, Sinner returned to the slopes during his enforced hiatus
The ban Sinner was handed was a rigorous one; the Italian was banned from attending any ATP, WTA, or ITF events in any capacity until May 5, and banned from training on any court recognised by the governing bodies until April 13.
The lack of match action and ability to train with high standard hitting partners was frustrating, with Sinner noting that after he returned to practicing as per the terms of his suspension, he had ‘blisters on (his) hand’, which he hadn’t felt ‘in a long time’.
With tennis out of the question, Sinner’s mind was forced to turn to other pursuits.
Sinner is a keen skier, thanks in large part to his his upbringing in the snow-dusted South Tyrol, a mostly German-speaking part of northern Italy. When he was growing up in San Candido, a village nestled within the Dolomites, both of Sinner’s parents worked at a ski lodge.
Raised against this auspicious backdrop, at the age of eight Sinner enjoyed a prodigious stint as Italy’s national giant slalom skiing champion and only switched full focus to tennis at the age of 13.
‘I felt like, tennis is something for me,’ Sinner told TNT Sports in late 2024. ‘I was a good skier, but the sport is different – you can make mistakes, you lose, and I don’t like to lose.
‘In tennis you can make mistakes and win the match. When I was young I made the choice and put myself in the fire.’
One of Sinner’s fiercest tour rivals, Novak Djokovic, has a similar backstory, confident on the Serbian slopes since the age of three, and the serial Grand Slam champion has attributed his strength of movement on the court, and flexibility in his knees and ankles to have having mastered the discipline.
As a child, Sinner was made to choose between tennis and skiing due to his talents in both
Sinner also spent time cycling in his native Italy, with friends including former F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi
Wherever Sinner went, he was tracked by his legion of fans desperate for his return to court
But skiing and professional sport rarely mix, with athletes one misjudged turn into a snow drift from a season-ending leg or arm break.
Sinner has previously lamented his inability to enjoy a sport he once loved recreationally, but with an otherwise unfathomably gap in his playing schedule, the 23-year-old was able to unwind in the mountains.
The world No1 was snapped by fans at the South Tyrol resort of Sexten, a mere 10-minute drive from San Candido, the pressures of the tour – and his ban – looking a world away.
Forays into other sports weren’t limited to alpine excursions – unable to pick up a racquet in public, Sinner opted to play golf, and cycle with some of his other sporting friends, including former Formula One star Antonio Giovinazzi.
Giovinazzi also welcomed Sinner into his arena, the race track, with the friends and compatriots taking a spin in karts at the Circuito Internazionale di Busca.
But as much as Sinner might have longed to spend more time at least attempting to go under the radar and try his hand at other sporting pursuits – albeit where he was dogged by his adoring Italian fanbase – the Australian Open champion was never truly allowed to forget where he was.
The verdict on Sinner’s case has meant that sponsors, of which he has a legion, had no cause to desert him. Instead, they could have more of him than they might otherwise have done, with Gucci the primary beneficiary.
Sinner was seated next to American Vogue’s doyenne Anna Wintour – a particularly engaged tennis fan herself – at the Italian house’s autumn/winter women’s fashion show in late February. Sinner and the house made history together at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, when he became the first player to tote the racquet bag of a luxury brand rather than his kit or racquet sponsors.
While unable to watch sport, there was no restriction on Sinner attending a Gucci fashion show
In 2023, Sinner became the first player to tote the racquet bag of a luxury brand rather than his kit or racquet sponsors on court at Wimbledon
But fashion shows were Sinner’s limit as a spectator, as he explained ahead his return to court in Rome.
‘The toughest part was that in the beginning I couldn’t watch any other sport really, in real life,’ Sinner added.
‘I don’t know how many know this but watching a simple football match in a stadium, I couldn’t go there to watch it.
‘I wanted to support my friends in cycling or motorsport – I couldn’t go there.’
Had Sinner ventured out more during his ban, the attention, particularly from the Italian press, would have been feverish. Unable to cover his sporting achievements, Sinner was no less well tracked in his nation’s papers – with attention turning instead to his off-court affairs.
Sinner’s relationship with fellow tennis player Anna Kalinskaya last season all but opened the floodgates for coverage of his private life, with the Italian media desperate to understand who the player might have moved on with after his split with the Russian star in 2024.
The first ‘mystery woman’ to have whipped up gossip columnists into a lather has some familiarity with the spotlight.
Lara Leito, 31, was previously involved in a six-year relationship with two-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody, before the pair split in 2018.
Leito and Sinner was caught by paparazzi in Monaco at the tennis club, with the Russian model having been spotted allegedly filming the player from the stands as he practiced.
Sinner was briefly linked to Lara Leito – who previously dated Oscar winner Adrien Brody
Fans on social media were also quick to link Sinner to the former girlfriend of Mick Schumacher
Sinner was asked about Laila Hasanovic – and a potential new Danish girlfriend – in French Open media, but strongly denied the rumours
The purported couple were then reportedly spotted hugging and later kissing after he gave her a lift from the club in his car, sparking online sleuths to comb through her social media profile for tennis-related clubs.
Leito visited Monaco for the Monte-Carlo Masters, and shared a number of tennis-themed posts – including one with a fox emoji, which some suspected linked to Jannik’s long-term nickname.
But Sinner was swift to deny the rumours when asked, somewhat improbably, straight off the bat journalists in Rome.
He was forced to do so a second time in pre-tournament media for Roland-Garros, after he was glimpsed in Copenhagen by a fan allegedly on a date with the former girlfriend of Mick Schumacher, Laila Hasanovic, as per an Italian entertainment outlet.
‘No, no, there was no girl,’ Sinner denied a week later. ‘I had just some business with a couple of photo shootings there. That’s it. Nothing else.’
What Sinner has publicised has been much more wholesome, like the founding of his own Foundation, which will aim to ‘change children’s lives through education and sport’.
There is a sense too that friends in the tennis community have been reassuring constancies for Sinner. His countrymen Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti had both spoken of their delight in his return to the circuit, with the former stressing that he had no plans to ‘stop supporting Jannik’ after his doping ban was issued.
British No1 Jack Draper appears to have been similarly supportive of his friend, and was the first tour professional to be captured practicing with Sinner after his ban was lifted. The pair were sported at the Monte-Carlo Country Club – home of the Monte-Carlo Masters, with Draper spending ‘three or four days’ with Sinner’s camp before flying to Madrid.
Jack Draper is not just a rival but a friend and peer, with the pair both benefitting from practice
Sinner enjoyed a charmed return to the tour in front of home fans at last week’s Italian Open
But the Australian Open champion may face a tougher crowd when he steps onto court against Arthur Rinderknech
Having reached the final after sparring with his former doubles partner in the Principality, there’s no doubt that the session suited both parties nicely.
Holger Rune, who claimed this year’s Barcelona Open last month, was another practice partner as Sinner sought to tune up before his home Open.
Suddenly, the months had flown by and Sinner, in somewhat bizarre scenes, was treated to a hero’s return in the Italian capital during his first press conference. The adulation spilled into the stands, with his countrymen packing out Foro Italico to watch him practice, let alone burn through his side of the draw to reach the final.
Carlos Alcaraz in imperious clay form saved tennis from which might have been a damning indictment of the strength of their top ten without Sinner, beating the home favourite in straight sets. But regardless of who lifted the trophy, a more cossetted return to the sport is almost unimaginable.
Roland-Garros will be entirely different.
Drawn against Provence-born Arthur Rinderknech, Sinner will step onto Phillippe-Chatrier on Monday evening into a bowl of hostility. The French fans are one of the most partisan in the sport, with crowd interaction with the players par for the course and particularly if a player is facing off with one of their own.
Sinner too might have to contend with those who feel that his ban has been unfairly lenient – an allegation which has been levelled at him by some commenters on social media, whipped up by peers including the ever-controversial Nick Kyrgios.
Needless to say, for those who might have found the timing of his ban convenient enough to ensure that no Grand Slam was missed during his spell on the sidelines, there are few who could argue that Sinner will have it easy when he steps back onto Paris’ famed red clay.
