Jannik Sinner came through the first true test of his comeback from a doping ban with Tuesday's straight-sets win over Francisco Cerundolo, which took the World No. 1 into the Italian Open quarterfinals.

I need this,” the world No. 1 said of the tough run Francisco Cerundolo gave him in Rome. “Today I felt I raised my level.”

Jannik has kept Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz behind despite missing three months of action and four Masters 1000 events. Thus, he will celebrate a notable milestone next week.

ROME—Jannik Sinner says it’s “a good thing for us tennis players” that the new pope likes to play the sport. Even if Leo XIV jokingly said he wouldn’t want to arrange a game with the top-ranked player—ostensibly because of his name.

Plastic sheets cover the field during a thunderstorm prior to the start round of sixteen match between Jannik Sinner and Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome,

Jannik Sinner overcame his toughest challenge so far at the Rome Open, defeating an inspired Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(2), 6-3. This will be Sinner's second appearance in the Italian Open quarterfinals,

Sinner was asked in his post-match news conference about the pope following his 6-4, 6-2 victory over Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong at the Italian Open, which is being played just up the Tiber River from the Vatican.