Jannik Sinner 'Has Respect Of People In Locker Room' According To Roddick
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Jannik Sinner will return from his three-month suspension at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome, and Andy Roddick thinks the crowd will make the return a memorable one for the Italian player.
Sinner last played at the Australian Open. He ended that tournament with the champions' trophy in his hands, which is also one of the reasons why he's the current leader in the 2025 ATP Race Rankings despite playing only one tournament this year. Another reason is the rest of the competition failing to deliver big results.
The 23-year-old Italian's suspension will come to an end just ahead of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, and it couldn't possibly end at a better date for him. In fact, according to some, it's too convenient for Sinner.
However, former ATP World No. 1 player, Andy Roddick, like Sinner, isn't worried about any of that noise, instead, in his latest column for Betway, the 42-year-old American focused on the positive sides of Sinner's comeback.
Roddick thinks that the crowd in Rome will welcome him with open arms, especially since he was forced to miss the event at Foro Italico last year.
"Sinner will return at the Italian Open, and his home crowd in Rome is going to go nuts. With the amount of support and fame that he has in Italy, I’m not sure there could have been a better place for him to come back."
"He’s played well in Turin and won the ATP Finals there, but he didn’t play Rome last year so they haven’t seen Jannik since he’s become the best player in the world. I’m not worried about any noise around his return affecting him, because that’s been there since last year’s U.S. Open and he won two majors in that time."
There have been many outspoken players when it comes to Sinner's doping case, but Roddick thinks that the World No. 1 player is able to filter out all the noise and focus only on his results, as he has shown at the US Open last year and at the Australian Open this year.
"I think he has the respect of people in the locker room, even if they disagree with the confusing nature of the doping protocols and what they may view as inconsistencies. Maybe you have a couple of yahoos who are more interested in tweeting opinions than actually reading facts, but Jannik is pretty understated."
"I don’t think he’s going to walk in with any sort of combative nature. The fact is he’s coming back, but he’ll be coming back on the surface that is probably not his favourite. That doesn’t mean he’s not great on it, but he’s judged against his own shadow and if there’s anything concrete under his feet then he’s dominant."
At the same time, Roddick thinks that Sinner's preparation for this year's French Open won't be ideal. The former American player thinks it will take some time before the three-time Grand Slam champion plays his best tennis again.
"His preparation for Paris will likely be affected. I don’t think you can be out for three months and come back as if nothing has changed. Maybe it’s like riding a bike, but I don’t think playing a normal schedule and not playing for three months are the same."
