Darren Cahill says this is his last year guiding the career of returning world No.1 Jannik Sinner - but if the Italian star's co-coach has his way, the "special" Australian will stay in their team for the next five years.

Supercoach Cahill, who's mentored four world No.1s in the shape of Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Simona Halep and now Sinner, has announced he'll retire at the end of the year.

But as the 23-year-old prepared to make his tennis comeback on Saturday at his home Italian Open after serving his controversial three-month ban for doping, his co-coach Simone Vagnozzi sounded as if he had some hope that Cahill could be persuaded to stay with 'Team Sinner'.

Asked in Rome what he would do once Cahill retired, the Italian Vagnozzi shrugged: "I would be able to do it on my own, but with players of this level it's important to have another viewpoint.

"And it's important to sometimes split up the weeks you spend with the player. Otherwise it's a 365-day a year job and that's a bit much.

"But I'm hoping that Darren stays on for another five years, because we have such a great relationship. He might be the best coach ever in terms of results and other factors - but most of all, he's a special person."

Sinner's return, after his much debated settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, is a massive story in Italy, with the player himself admitting he had been surprised by the reactions of other players.

"At the start of the suspension I received some surprising messages from some players, whereas there were others who I would have expected to hear from that didn't send anything," Sinner said. "But I'm not going to name names."

The settlement came after WADA appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to exonerate Sinner for what it deemed an accidental contamination by a banned steroid in March 2024.

He's been practising with Jack Draper, Lorenzo Sonego and Holger Rune at his training base in Monaco and will be thrown straight back into the fray in Italy before the French Open with his big Spanish rival Carlos Alcaraz back from injury to challenge him in Rome.

On Wednesday, Alcaraz, two days after celebrating his 22nd birthday, welcomed back Sinner, and reported that he was back to his best after taking a break when hit by groin and hamstring injuries at the Barcelona Open.

Meanwhile, the tournament's early matches continued at the Foro Italico with Aleksandar Vukic, the only Australian on view on Thursday, earning victory in his first round match 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 over American qualifier Nicolas Moreno De Alboran.

In the round of 64 on Friday, Jordan Thompson will face American 28th seed Brandon Nakashima, while his fellow Sydneysider Alexei Popyrin, the 24th seed, will open his account against Spaniard Carlos Taberner after his first-round bye.

With agencies