Jannik Sinner’s exit from Paris Masters could be linked to ongoing doping case
Jannik Sinner has been plunged back into his worst nightmare over his failed drug tests and recent history tells us it will take a toll on him physically.
After he pulled out of the Paris Masters with a virus, the Italian world No 1 is now battling to get back to full fitness for next month’s ATP Finals and that challenge will test him both physically and mentally.
Sinner twice tested positive for an anabolic steroid in March but on August 20 an independent tribunal determined he was not to blame and imposed no punishment.
The tribunal accepted Sinner’s explanation that the banned substance entered his body as a result of a massage from his physio, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on their finger.
But WADA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on the 23-year-old Italian. The appeal was lodged on Thursday but announced on Saturday morning.
Speaking after he rallied to beat Roman Safiullin 3-6 6-2 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open, Sinner said: “I’m very disappointed and also surprised by the appeal to be honest. I was not expecting it. Maybe they just want to make sure everything is in the right position.”
With the WADA appeal hanging over him and the renewed threat of a ban from tennis very real, the pressure that mounted on Sinner when the initial confirmation of his failed drug test broke could be replaying itself after he withdrew from the Paris Masters.
Sinner conducted an interview with Sky Italy that was recorded prior to the news of the WADA appeal in his doping case, with the inevitable impact the story had on him physically and mentally now being played out all over again for the 23-year-old Italian.
The news that he has been forced to withdraw from the final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season was delivered with a message on his social media platforms.
“This is not an easy announcement to make,” he said in a video message. “My team and I arrived early to prepare as best as possible, but unfortunately, I started feeling unwell during training and saw the doctor on Sunday.
“It turns out I’ve come down with a virus. I’m feeling better now, but I’m still not ready to compete here in Paris.
“I was really looking forward to this tournament, so it’s disappointing, to say the least. For now, I’m focusing on recovery and getting back to 100%. I’ll be aiming to come back stronger for Turin.”
Sinner’s withdrawal in Paris may just be due to the virus, but the comments of his coach Darren Cahill as he reflected on what he believed was the end of the doping story around his players are now relevant.
Cahill admitted Sinner was drained by the worry around whether he would be banned from tennis and be branded a drug cheat, as he offered up these comments shortly before he won the US Open in September.
“You would have seen a big change in his physicality and excitement to be on the court, it wore him down physically and mentally, he got tonsillitis (and) missed the Olympics,” Cahill told ESPN. “We are not looking for any sorrow. Just thankful there is no ban attached.”
An interview conducted by Sinner prior to WADA’s intervention in his case also offers up some telling comments about how he might be feeling after he was plunged back into a period of uncertainty that could end with a lengthy ban from the sport.
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“It was difficult at first of all because I couldn’t open up to so many people,” he said, looking back on the months after his failed drug tests.
“It was a very delicate period, very difficult at the beginning because I didn’t know how to behave and what would come up, I didn’t know what would happen even a little bit with my team.
“It was very difficult because normally I am always in control, but there it was quite easy to lose control.
“Except that after a few weeks, I woke up one morning and thought; ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, I didn’t know anything. So it’s already over for me’. Then what the judge decides or what can come out in the end is something I can no longer control.
“The most difficult moment was when the news came out. And it came out at a very delicate time for me, before a grand slam. I wanted to train already on Wednesday, but the news arrived on Tuesday.
“Then it was better not to go training because there would be too much chaos at the club. So then we go on Thursday, we go in the evening because there are so many people who have already left. We got there, we had all the cameras after us, it was very tough. I looked at the other players a bit to understand what they really thought and I asked myself many, many questions.
“It was difficult to prepare for a Grand Slam like this. The problem was also when nothing had happened yet and people who knew me or played a match against saw me in low spirits and said to me ‘but you won, why are you like this?’ what do I answer? I said no, I’m fine, everything is fine.
“Then there are the matches where the night before I didn’t sleep as you probably saw at Wimbledon before the match with Medvedev. The night before I didn’t sleep, then in the morning I felt sick.”
The emotions Sinner commented on in that interview may now be rushing back to him and while he appears to have found a way to perform despite the cloud of suspicion and uncertainty hovering over him, his immune system may be impacted by the stress he is enduring.
Sinner now has to get himself ready for next month’s ATP Finals in front of his home fans in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where he will look to guide Italy to successful defence of the title he helped them win last year.
