Jannik Sinner passed a big test in his return from a three-month doping ban, beating accomplished clay-court player Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals.

The world No. 1 was rusty on his first match back after three months away. His Italian Open draw means he cannot afford to be so for long.

The world No. 1 overcame a brief lapse during the first set of a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 93 Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong in his second match back on tour in front of his home crowd at the Italian Open on Monday. Sinner jumped out to 4-1 but then lost his serve twice as De Jong evened the set at 4-4.