Matthew Futterman

2 days ago | nytimes.com | Matthew Futterman

ROME - The chants and the roars started hours before Jannik Sinner took the court, and they came from a surprising place. Inside the Stadio Olimpico, a few courts north of the main tennis arena at the Foro Italico, supporters of rival Serie A soccer clubs Lazio and Juventus joined together to sing the chant that has become a staple in men's tennis. Judging by the world No. 1's performance in his first two comeback matches from a three-month doping suspension, it will be so for much longer.

4 days ago | au.sports.yahoo.com | Matthew Futterman

ROME — Iga Świątek’s struggles continue, at one of the last places anyone in tennis would have expected. Świątek, a master of clay-court tennis and defending champion at the Italian Open, lost to American Danielle Collins in the third round, falling 6-1, 7-5. The loss appeared to send Swiatek into a new depth two weeks before the start of her most important tournament, the French Open, which she has won four of the past five years.

4 days ago | nytimes.com | Matthew Futterman

ROME - Iga Świątek's struggles continue, at one of the last places anyone in tennis would have expected. Świątek, a master of clay-court tennis and defending champion at the Italian Open, lost to American Danielle Collins in the second round, falling 6-1, 7-5. Collins had beaten Świątek just once before in eight meetings, but on Saturday in the Campo Centrale of the Foro Italico, Collins looked like she'd had her opponents number for years.

4 days ago | nytimes.com | Matthew Futterman

ROME - When in Rome, head to the corner of the Via Leone IV and the Viale Vaticano and turn west for about 50 yards along the latter, to where the line starts to build for entry to the Vatican Museum. Crane your neck up to the top of the 39-foot-high Vatican City wall, and there it is - one of the few things besides trees and buildings that peek above the fortifications to be visible from street level. A high, netted fence juts above the wall, stretching a few meters across.

5 days ago | nytimes.com | Matthew Futterman

ROME - The roars start to rise even before Jannik Sinner walks onto the courts at the Foro Italico, a tennis version of what unfolded Thursday below that famous door in St. Peter's Square. The hero is back from Elba, trying to figure out in real-time how to reclaim a sport that barely slipped from his grasp during a three-month doping ban. Sinner, the men's world No. 1, will play a competitive tennis match again on Saturday at long last, though has it really been that long? No, and yes.