Fognini bows out as Rome hails Sinner's return

In the wake of the departures of two prominent Romans, pre the Italian Open, first the passing of beloved pontif, Pope Francis and then to a lesser extent, the retirement of former Italian No 1, Fabio Fognini, the return of  World No 1, Jannik Sinner, to Foro Italico, is all the more poignant.

This marks Sinners first professional appearance, since the Australian Open, after a provisional three-month drug suspension.

He finds himself in the top half of the draw, together with newly crowned, Madrid champion, Casper Ruud, with whom, he will potentially clash in the quarters and in the opposite side of the draw to arch rivals, World No 3, Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion, Alexander Zverev, whom he’s destined to meet in the semis.

Alcaraz, bouncing back from an abductor injury, which precipitated his withdrawal from the Madrid Open is meanwhile seeded to confront the brand new World No 5, Jack Draper in the Quarters.

23-year-old Draper happens to be Sinner’s closest friend on Tour and one of the Italian’s staunchest supporters, in terms of fierce criticism for Sinner, from other players, e.g,  American, Frances Tiafoe, regarding the short length of his ban.

Apart from sporting similar hairstyles and modeling on the sidelines, both Sinner & Draper have adopted a wisely similar stance in remaining non committal, if not below the radar, about their prospective romantic relationships and regularly practice together.

Given Draper’s monumental rise up the rankings and his constant lament, most players avoid sparring with left handers, pre tournaments, it seems he’s imbibed some of the Italian’s magnetic focus and firepower, in addition to learning how to cook pasta.

In contrast,  one man, fast losing focus and fast plummeting as a result, is former No 1, Daniil Medvedev: The Russian, having won the Rome Masters in 2023, which changed his attitude towards clay, a surface he’d previously disliked, is suffering a string of defeats in 2025, since losing to qualifier, Learner Tien, early at the Australian Open and there are rumours of retirement: “Medvedev is being figured out by his younger opponents. If you try and overpower him, when he’s way back, you’re not going to get it done. You’ve got to bring him forward, you've got to serve and volley.”

So says astute former No 5, Jimmy Arias. Quite frankly the same could be said about GOAT, Novak Djokovic, also on a losing streak of late, who has withdrawn from Rome. Entrenched baseliners are being exposed by an emerging batch of lethal volleyers.

Alcaraz, who happily falls into the latter contingent, does share one of Medvedev’s pet gripes about the inconsistency of the balls, used at these different events. As Alcaraz complained in Rotterdam, “there are many players, who are suffering elbow and shoulder injuries- because of ball pressures-  and something needs to change..”

Medvedev  actually summoned the tournament director in Shanghai to berate him: “These balls aren’t good enough for professional tennis. I’m going to have shoulder pains for the rest of my life!”

Over and above blaming balls, there are more obvious changes one can make as a player, in a slump. Greek No 1, Stefanos Tsitsipas, another fatality in the rankings - dropping from No 3- 18- has reenlisted estranged dad, Apostolos and more prudently approached former Wimbledon champion, Goran Ivanisevic, to join his team as a coach, post Roland Garros.

Thus for those seeking redemption, including Sinner, perhaps the nearby presence of a new pope, Leo XIV will aid their respective quests on Roman soil.