Why Jannik Sinner is facing fresh questions over his doping scandal ahead of US Open
Jannik Sinner did what he needed to do when he dispatched with the services of the coaches who were at the centre of his positive doping test last year, but he invited a new wave of interrogation on the topic he wants the tennis world to forget when he rehired Umberto Ferrara.
Sinner’s reputation was forever tarnished when news broke just before last year’s US Open about his positive doping test when he was playing at the Indian Wells Masters in March 2024.
Ferrara was one of the fitness team sacked by Sinner for their role in the scandal that ended with the world No 1 serving a three-month suspension, with many observers suggesting that was a lenient penalty for an athlete who was found to have a banned anabolic steroid in his body while he was playing professional sport.
The reaction to the Sinner story and the ban her served suggested the tennis and sporting world were ready to move on from this drug scandal, but then Sinner rehired Ferrara and questions were asked once again.
It was no surprise that those questions filtered into his pre-US Open press conference, with Sinner doing his best to side-step the debate as he suggested this story is no longer relevant.
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“About Umberto, we said everything in the statement,” declared Sinner. “I don’t want to comment anymore on this.
“I feel like it’s over. We are focusing on the hard work again and trying to get better as an athlete. It’s the most important (thing) at the moment.”
Sinner must have known that his decision to bring Ferrara back into his team would spark fresh comments over his doping case, but the Italian clearly feels he doesn’t need to apologise any longer for his positive test.
Sinner’s claim that the positive tests were caused by a spray given by Ferrara to team member Giacomo Naldi to treat a cut on his hand, which then inadvertently transferred to the world No 1 via a massage was accepted by a tribunal.
Many found that story hard to believe, but the only reason why this subject is back on the agenda is due to Sinner’s move to bring Ferrara back into his team.
If you look into the fine details of Sinner’s doping case, you are likely to reach a conclusion that he was not deliberately doping, but the reappearance of Ferrara in his box at the US Open was always likely to spark a new debate.
For his part, Sinner insists he is in a better place mentally than he was this time last year, when he managed to banish the chaos and controversy swirling around him to win his first US Open title.
“I feel different than last year, of course,” he said. “Last year was a much more stressful situation, because also the timing before a Grand Slam. It was difficult to handle everything. Also for me, I’m still young, so it was not easy.”
A year later, and Sinner is still being asked about his positive doping test, but that is primarily because he decided to reunite with one of the key figures in that unfortunate story.
