Italian Open 2025 Day 4 Recap – Perfect Tennis

The second round at the 2025 Italian Open is complete, and Jannik Sinner returned on Saturday after his three-month negotiated doping suspension. 

The world number one kicked off with a straightforward enough win over Mariano Navone in the early evening on the Stadio Centrale del Tennis.

Elsewhere, there were several seeded casualties with Fritz, Shelton, Tiafoe, Rublev and Davidovich Fokina all crashing out in their opening matches.

Outside of Rome, Novak Djokovic announced he’s taken a wildcard into the Geneva tournament before the French Open, while Sinner will also play in Hamburg at the ATP 500, which has also been moved to the same week.

Full results and recap below.

Day Four Italian Open 2024 Round of 64 Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Jannik Sinner (1)
Mariano Navone
6-3 6-4

Jesper de Jong (LL)
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (25)
6-0 6-2

Francisco Cerundolo (17)
Nicolas Jarry
7-6(4) 6-3

Sebastian Ofner (Q)
Frances Tiafoe (15)
6-2 6-7(2) 6-3

Jaume Munar
Ben Shelton (12)
6-2 6-1

Sebastian Korda (22)
Aleksandar Vukic
6-3 6-4

Matteo Berrettini (29)
Jacob Fearnley
6-4 7-6(0)

Casper Ruud (6)
Alexander Bublik
6-4 4-6 6-3

Marcos Giron
Taylor Fritz (4)
7-6(3) 7-6(3)

Hubert Hurkacz (30)
Pedro Martinez
6-1 7-5

Jakub Mensik (20)
Matteo Gigante (WC)
7-6(4) 7-5

Fabian Marozsan
Andrey Rublev (16)
7-5 4-6 6-3

Tommy Paul (11)
Roberto Bautista Agut
6-1 6-4

Tomas Machac (19)
Learner Tien
6-4 6-4

Thiago Seyboth Wild
Hugo Dellien (LL)
6-4 3-6 6-4

Alex de Minaur (7)
Luca Nardi (WC)
6-4 7-5

Sinner Starts Strong

Jannik Sinner made a winning return to the ATP tour at Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday after his negotiated doping suspension.

The World No. 1, competing in his first match since February, delivered a solid showing in his second-round clash, dispatching the clay court specialist Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-4 in just 98 minutes.

Despite a brief hiccup when he lost a break lead in the second set, Sinner’s relentless precision and power haven’t gone anywhere during his 3-month hiatus. 

Next, the 23-year-old Italian faces lucky loser Jesper de Jong, who stunned Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0, 6-2.

What do I make of it? I still find it hard to believe the lack of media scrutiny around Sinner’s clostebol incident.

But then I remember we live in a world where, a couple of years back, people queued up in a car park to parenterally receive an experimental product in exchange for a free hamburger, so I suppose it’s no real surprise that the majority of people don’t ask too many questions. 

Gut instinct and inductive reasoning suggest there is more behind the Sinner doping story, so I struggle to support his cause or tennis. 

It’s an amazing feeling. I waited quite long for this moment. I’m very happy to be back. It’s very difficult to have the right feedback when you don’t have any matches, and that’s exactly what I need. Now I think the best practice is the match itself, so I’m very happy about that. I’m very happy about the win today. It was very difficult. He is such a great player, especially on this surface. I tried to move around the ball. At times it went very well, at times it could have been better, yes, but in any case, it doesn’t matter about the result today. It has been a remarkable day for me, so I’m very happy. Sinner on his win.

Match Stats

 
Jannik Sinner
Mariano Navone

Winners
21
10

Unforced Errors
24
17

Aces
1
0

Double Faults
1
1

1st Serve %
64% (38/59)
70% (45/64)

1st Serve Points Won
63% (24/38)
58% (26/45)

2nd Serve Points Won
68% (17/25)
53% (8/15)

Break Points Saved
100% (2/2)
50% (3/6)

Service Games
100% (10/10)
70% (7/10)

1st Return Points Won
42% (19/45)
37% (14/38)

2nd Return Points Won
47% (7/15)
32% (8/25)

Break Points Won
50% (3/6)
0% (0/2)

Return Games
30% (3/10)
0% (0/10)

Pressure Points
63% (5/8)
38% (3/8)

Service Points
69% (41/59)
58% (37/64)

Return Points
42% (27/64)
31% (18/59)

Net Points
75% (6/8)
75% (3/4)

Total Points
55% (68/123)
45% (55/123)

Match Points Saved
0
0

Max Points In A Row
6
4

Total Games
65% (13/20)
35% (7/20)

Max Games In A Row
3
1

Other Key Matches

Matteo Berrettini marked his return to Rome with a solid victory over Jacob Fearnley. The Italian was back at his home ATP Masters 1000 for the first time since 2021, and he unleashed a trademark barrage of forehand shots to outlast Jacob Fearnley 6-4, 7-6(0).

Trailing 3-5 in the second set and staring down two set points, Berrettini conjured clutch volley winners to claw his way back, before slamming the door shut with a flawless tie-break.

Berrettini retired mid-match in Madrid with an abdominal issue, which was worrying given his problems over the last few years. However, he showed no signs of discomfort and wrapped up the one-hour, 55-minute battle with steely determination.

Next, Berrettini faces Madrid champ Casper Ruud, who maintained his form with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 grind past Alexander Bublik.

The Norwegian sixth seed had to come through the tricky game style of the Kazakh, who employed his usual flamboyant game with drop volleys galore.

Marcos Giron pulled off the upset of the day, toppling fourth seed Taylor Fritz 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in an all-American clash. Down 0-4 in the second set, the 31-year-old flipped the script, leaving Fritz fuming after one hour, 45 minutes. It’s Giron’s second third-round showing at a clay Masters (Rome 2022).

Fabian Marozsan kept the upsets coming, ousting 16th seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. The Hungarian, who famously shocked Carlos Alcaraz here in 2023, traded 33 winners with Rublev’s 32 in a slugfest.

While lucky loser Jesper de Jong crushed No. 25 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0 6-2. Fokina has shown much improvement this season, but was back to his old habits, firing 29 unforced errors across fourteen games.

Tommy Paul restored some success for the seeded Americans, cruising past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-4 to book a third-round clash with Tomas Machac, who dispatched Learner Tien 6-4, 6-4 in a tidy display.

Highlights

Italian Open 2025 Day 5 Round of 32 Matches

What do you make of Rome so far? Let me know in the comments.