Italian Open organizers can't wait to welcome back Sinner from doping ban

ROME (AP) — Jannik Sinner’s return from his three-month doping ban is a month away and Italian Open organizers can’t wait to welcome back the first home No. 1 player in the tournament’s history.

“I’m expecting that he’s going to be swamped by the fans’ affection, so we’re going to have to make sure that things don’t get out of hand,” Angelo Binaghi, the president of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation, said at the tournament’s presentation Wednesday.

Sinner accepted his ban in February in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency. 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.

The ban expires on May 4 and the Italian Open, which runs from May 7-18, will be Sinner's first tournament back.

“The important thing is that he starts playing again. Then the fact that it will be in Rome makes it even nicer,” tournament director Paolo Lorenzi said. “We’re waiting for him with open arms.”

While the Italians are fully behind Sinner, many fellow pros feel that he was treated too lightly and that his ban was worked out so he wouldn’t miss any of the Grand Slams — or even his home tournament.

Sinner will have a first-round bye.

“We know only that he’ll play Friday or Saturday (May 9 or 10),” Lorenzi said. “We don’t know yet if it will be a day or night match.”

Organizers announced that they will give Sinner a special hospitality box where he and his team, family and friends can share some private space amid all the attention.

Sinner was assured of keeping the No. 1 ranking through Rome after Davis Cup teammate Matteo Berrettini beat No. 2 Alexander Zverev at the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday.

Sinner hasn’t played since defending his Australian Open title in January.

“I’m not expecting him to be in top form,” Binaghi said. “But Sinner showed last year that he knows how to handle much more serious problems in an extraordinary manner. I think if he’s able to win his opening matches, the rest would be easier.”

The last Italian man to win the title in Rome was Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Another statue-lined arena to be used in Rome

Italy is in the midst of a tennis boom: Sinner helped the country to a second consecutive Davis Cup victory last year and Jasmine Paolini led the Azzurre to the Billie Jean King Cup. It has prompted tournament organizers to expand the event space at the Foro Italico from 12 to 20 hectares (from 30 to 50 acres) and add another statue-lined competition arena.

The statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi will host three courts: a 3,000-seat arena and two courts each featuring seating for 800.

The 3,000-seat arena will become the tournament’s third-largest show court after Campo Centrale and the Grand Stand Arena, making the Pietrangeli court — which also features an array of statues — the fourth largest.

Inaugurated in 1932, the Stadio dei Marmi hosted field hockey games during the 1960 Rome Olympics. The stadium and its 60 statues underwent a restoration project last year.

Binaghi said he is hoping that the tournament attracts a total of 400,000 fans this year.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis