‘I really believe Jannik Sinner can win the Calendar Grand Slam this year’
Jannik Sinner has been backed to be “strong” as soon as he returns from his three-month doping ban by his former coach Riccardo Piatti.
The world No 1 has not played since January, when he defended his Australian Open title with a straight sets win over Alexander Zverev in the final in Melbourne. The Australian Open, meanwhile, remains a popular event for sports betting promos globally.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on February 15 that it had reached a deal with Sinner‘s representatives for the Italian to serve a suspension from February 9 until May 4 (his ban also includes four days previously served while he was under a provisional suspension).
Sinner tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol twice in March 2024 — during and after the Indian Wells Masters.
The three-time major winner initially avoided a ban when The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed in August that an independent tribunal ruled he carried “no fault or negligence.”
However, WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the ITIA’s ruling in September, seeking to impose a ban of between one and two years on Sinner. The case was scheduled to be heard at the CAS from April 16-17 until Sinner’s agreement with WADA.
The 23-year-old has already missed events in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, while he will also be unable to play the Madrid Open.
Sinner will make his comeback at the Italian Open, a Masters 1000 tournament that will begin on May 7. He will then be able to play the French Open.
Piatti, who coached Sinner from the age of 13 to 20, has expressed his belief that his former charge is capable of winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2025.
“He will be strong right away [after he returns from the ban],” he told Corriere della Sera. “I really believe that this year he can do the Grand Slam.
“The suspension has extended his life: he will arrive at the end of the season fresh. You play too much, mentally you never stop. He will return charged and motivated. He always has been.
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“During the pandemic many took advantage of it to not train. Gasquet, during the doping stop, gained eight kilos. Jannik has not missed a day. He knows perfectly where he wants to go.”
The 66-year-old Italian coach also identified the reason for his split with Sinner in February 2022.
“Everyone remembers the match with [Taro] Daniel, in Melbourne, in January 2022, when he said: calm down, damn it,” Piatti explained.
“He was angry with me for things on the pitch, it had already happened other times: it’s normal dynamics between coach and player. That’s not the problem.
“I always wanted Jannik to become independent, I knew that one day he would leave. But with him, I had to be the rigorous coach, sometimes rigid: it was my role.
“[Ivan] Ljubicic reproaches me for telling him: you decide too, Ivan, but then do as I say. For Jannik, this penalty, at a certain point, was too much to bear.”
On whether it bothers him that Sinner has not mentioned him since they parted ways, Piatti added: “No, it doesn’t bother me. I know him, I know players. How they are, how they think. They always look forward, never back.
“I don’t see it as ingratitude — Jannik does his job, he doesn’t have to thank anyone. Nor do I feel there’s anything to clarify with him. Tennis is a sport where ego plays a big role.”
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