By the time Jannik Sinner sat down to face the media at Flushing Meadows on Friday, for the first time since news broke that he has been cleared of wrongdoing after twice testing positive for a banned substance earlier this year, he was clearly ready to talk.
Three days is an eternity in the court of public opinion and, since the details of Sinner’s case emerged on Tuesday, feelings about his exoneration have run high within the game.
“Different rules for different players,” said Denis Shapovalov, a former world No 10, suggesting the 23-year-old Italian had received preferential treatment. “Ridiculous,” snapped the American player Tennys Sandgren; “ATP always looks out for their money makers.” Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile, characteristically unequivocal, suggested Sinner “should be gone for two years”.
Amid the cacophony of noise, the one voice that remained unheard on the subject was Sinner’s own. And it might have remained so, had Gary Sussman, the overzealous moderator of the world No 1’s pre-US Open press conference, succeeded in his attempt to limit the discussion. Happily, however, Sinner was in forthcoming mood. Neither defensive nor evasive, the Australian Open champion said his conscience was clear, while conceding that his stature might be diminished in the eyes of others.
“That’s a good question,” Sinner replied when asked if he had concerns about his reputation. “I kept playing tennis because, in my mind, I knew that I haven’t done anything wrong. I knew that I was very clean, I knew that I was always… a fair player.
“This notification, it might change a couple of things. But whoever knows me very well knows that I haven’t done, and I would never do, something that goes against the rules. Obviously, it has been a very tough moment for me and my team. It still is, because it’s quite fresh.”
The fallout from the episode is reflected in the departure from Sinner’s team of fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara and Giacomo Naldi, his former physiotherapist. Both were at the heart of the events that led to the positive tests, according to the explanation Sinner provided to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after failing anti-doping tests during and after this year’s Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells.
The decision of the independent tribunal that determined the outcome of the case, published this week, outlines how Naldi gave Sinner massage treatments after using an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol, an anabolic steroid, to treat a cut finger. The spray was given to Naldi by Ferrara, who purchased it in Italy the previous month.
“Now, because of these mistakes, I’m not feeling that confident to continue with them,” said Sinner. “The only thing I need right now [is] just some clean air. I was struggling a lot in the last months. I was waiting for the result, and now I just need some clean air.”
Scrutiny is nonetheless inevitable. Sinner’s ability to shut out external noise will go a long way to determining his progress through a draw that is expected to pit him against Tommy Paul and Daniil Medvedev before a projected semi-final reunion with Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated him in an epic quarter-final two years ago. That said, the Italian has spent the past five months dealing with the psychological burden of the ITIA investigation – “He’s struggled and I think it’s worn him down physically and mentally,” his coach, Darren Cahill, said this week – and his relief that things are finally out in the open could conceivably have a liberating effect.
“It’s not ideal before a grand slam,” said Sinner, who nonetheless won his third Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati on Monday. “But in my mind I know that I haven’t done anything wrong. I had to play already months with this in my head, but just remembering myself that I haven’t done really anything wrong.
“I always will respect these rules of anti-doping. Just obviously a relief for myself having this result.”
Many have questioned the unusual speed with which Sinner’s case was resolved, as well as the fact that he was able to keep playing and the news of his failed tests remained undisclosed until he had been cleared. Among them is Tara Moore, the British player who served a 19-month suspension in comparable circumstances before being absolved of blame. “I guess only the top players’ images matter,” Moore wrote on social media after the story broke.
Yet Simona Halep, another former world No 1, spent 18 months on the sidelines after failing an anti-doping test at the 2022 US Open before the court of arbitration for sport ruled that the violation was unintentional. As Britain’s Liam Broady remarked: “Plenty of players go through the same thing and have to wait months or years for their innocence to be declared.”
As is standard in such cases, Sinner was provisionally banned following each of his failed tests. On both occasions, a successfully appeal ensured he served only a brief suspension, both times out of competition. Sinner rejects the notion that he received special treatment or used his status to control the narrative.
“Every player who gets tested positive has to go through the same process,” he said. “There is no shortcut, there is no different treatment, they are all the same process.
“I know sometimes the frustration of other players obviously. But maybe they got suspended because they didn’t know exactly where it comes from, also what substance. But the main reason is where it comes from and how it entered [the] system.
“We knew it straightaway, and we were aware of what happened. We went straightaway, and I was suspended for two, three days. I couldn’t practice and everything. But they accepted it very, very fast, and that’s why.”
With months of uncertainty behind him, Sinner will now attempt to recover some sense of normality. It remains to be seen how far circumstances – or the misgiving of his peers – will allow him that luxury, but he is clear in his own mind about what he needs to do.
“I’m just a simple tennis player, no?” said Sinner. “That’s what I love to do.”