Jannik Sinner's first tournament back from suspension will be the 2025 Italian Open, and the organizers are already planning how to make his time there as enjoyable as possible.
Sinner has been suspended since February 9th after settling his high-profile doping case with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). He tested positive twice for clostebol at the 2024 Indian Wells Open, but that was only made public five months later in August.
The Italian's ban will be lifted on May 4th. WADA, which appealed the initial decision to clear him, settled the case since it accepted that Sinner was accidentally contaminated and did not mean to take a prohibited substance.
Sinner will miss the upcoming Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters (although he probably planned to skip it anyway), the Munich Open, and the Madrid Open, but his suspension ends before the Italian Open starts.
Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian Tennis Federation, was quoted by Ubitennis as saying that Sinner does not live in his home country anymore because it is impossible for him to move around due to the attention it leads to from the public.
Therefore, Binaghi said that the Italian Open plans to give Sinner his own private suite to relax between matches, something they also did for Novak Djokovic at a previous iteration of the tournament.
"Sinner can no longer live in Italy and in the two days he was here last year this was confirmed. We will dedicate something to him along the lines of what Djokovic had asked for a few years ago. As world No 1, he did not frequent the players’ lounge, in an attempt to create a place where he could prepare for the match and relax."
"For the same reason, we would gladly give up a part of our lounge to Jannik if he wants, because we believe he should be protected."
The Italian Tennis Federation staunchly defended and supported Sinner throughout his high-profile case, so it is unsurprising that they took additional measures to make him feel as comfortable as possible.
Sinner will probably be grateful for the support he has received from the Federation. There might have been a temptation for them to sit on the fence, but they have never wavered in calling him innocent and undeserving of any ban.
The arrangement Binaghi outlined will be even more helpful than usual since the Italian Open is set to be Sinner's first tournament back. This means the attention on him will be even more pronounced than usual for a home event.
Sinner has not publicly commented since his statement about the case settlement with WADA. That makes it impossible to gauge his feelings about some of the reactions to it from figures like Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios called Sinner's settlement and three-month ban a sad day for tennis. He has been the three-time Grand Slam champion's most vocal critic since the case was first made public in August.
Djokovic claimed that many other players in the locker room are unhappy at what they view as an unfair process compared to other cases. That might make Sinner's first few days back awkward.
