'I am happy to play tennis again.'
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner said on Monday that he was heading into the Italian Open with low expectations as he makes his comeback after serving a three-month doping ban.
Sinner agreed a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency in February and began an immediate three-month suspension after authorities accepted that the anabolic agent clostebol had entered his system via massages from his physiotherapist.
But on his return to the courts, Sinner was received with warmth, a stadium full of nearly 5,000 fans for his first practice session at the Italian Open on Monday.
Sinner is the first Italian World No. 1 and back home is getting all the attention a top-ranked player deserves.
He was at the centre of a ceremony held to at Campo Centrale to honour the Italian teams that swept the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup last year.
'Honestly, I think I'm a simple 23-year-old kid. I'm good at playing tennis but I'm not changing the world,' he said.
Never has soccer-mad Italy given this much attention to a tennis star, so much so that Sinner's homecoming has been compared to the election of a pope.
With a conclave to elect a new pope set to begin kilometres away at the Vatican on Wednesday, Sinner's return prompted local headlines to declare Habemus Sinner -- akin to the Latin words Habemus Papam! that are announced from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica when a pope is elected.
'I always remember that I come from a small town of 2,000 people. Being here in Rome and playing in front of so many people is a big deal.'
Hailing from the German-speaking Alto Adige region of northern Italy, Sinner revealed how he spent time after the ban.
At the start I was a bit confused because I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do.'
'Then I went home and stayed with my family. I tried to understand better what was really important to me.
'I know how many sacrifices I made and my daily routine was always practice, practice, practice. But at that moment I didn't have any of that. I came to understand that what's important to me are the people by your side. That they give you the strength to move forward and continue smiling.'
Sinner also spent more time with friends at home in Monaco.
'We went about a month without touching (a racquet) and then we restarted really softly,' Sinner said.
'When we started pushing more, blisters developed on my hands. That was something I hadn't experienced in a long time.'
Last year, Sinner said, was very difficult for him.
'I was in a tough situation and in the beginning of the Australian Open I struggled a lot. So, it was nice also to take a small break,' he added.
'But I could feel that I'm not playing for quite a long time. The body still has to adjust the times ... the blisters in hands they come again because you're not used to it anymore.'
The settlement was made after WADA appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerate Sinner for what it deemed to be an accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid in March 2024.
The settlement raised questions, since it conveniently allowed Sinner not to miss any Grand Slams and return at his home tournament.
The three-times Grand Slam champion, who has not played since winning the Australian Open in January, will now hope to leave the doping saga behind him and build momentum for the French Open, which runs from May 25 to June 8.
The Italian was cleared to return to training from April 13, with his suspension ending on May 4.
'It's a very, very low expectation tournament in general for me, it's talking also results wise,' Sinner told reporters ahead of the Italian Open.
'What's missing is the complete feedback of where my level is. That's going to come then slowly with the time of playing, after the first round match I'm going to have a good picture of myself -- where I am at.'
Despite missing out on three month's action, the 23 year old was assured of retaining the top ranking for his home tournament after his closest challenger Alexander Zverev crashed to an early defeat in Monte-Carlo Masters.
'For me personally good news that the Grand Slams were not included ... This kind of agreement, I didn't want to do it in the beginning. It was not easy for me to accept it because I know what really happened, but sometimes we have to choose the best in a very bad moment,' Sinner said.
'It's all over now, so I'm happy to play tennis again.'
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