Jannik Sinner forced to accept a painful truth after failed drug tests – what comes next?
Jannik Sinner may have cemented his status as the world’s No 1 tennis player at the US Open, but the last two weeks have also confirmed the other issue that has dominated his agenda will never entirely leave him.
In a Grand Slam tournament that proved to be a step too far for Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz after their long summers that included an appearance in the Olympic Games, Sinner’s brilliance has shone through.
His display against Jack Draper in the semi-final was a masterclass of power hitting, as he outlasted his rival physically and continued to serve up a level of brilliant consistency throughout the match.
There don’t appear to be any holes in Sinner’s game off the court and it seems his mental strength is also unshakable after a fortnight that saw him embark on a charm offensive after news of his two failed drug tests from last March was confirmed.
Sinner successfully argued that the presence of a banned substance in his system was unintentional, but plenty of eyebrows were raised after is positive test for a performance-enhancing drug.
The modern world offers swift verdicts that are hard to shift and many will not have looked into the minuscule amount of the steroid Clostebol that was found in Sinner’s system as they cast their judgement on this story.
That explains why many online comments have been negative about the Italian star as he has plotted his path to a first Flushing Meadows final, with tennis legend John McEnroe among those who suspect the drug test scar will always be on Sinner’s record in the eyes of many.
“People think that with people in all sports… you never know (if someone has taken drugs),” said McEnroe at a Eurosport event.
“He’s handled it very well, that’s for sure. I thought it would affect him more, honestly, on the court. In the first round, I think it did because he was a set and a break down.
“He seems to have been able to move past it and it seems people are willing to.
“I don’t know enough about the circumstances, but when you hear it’s one billionth of one particle, you start to feel like that certainly sounds like it couldn’t do much.
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“Look, I’m a tennis fan and I want to go with believing what ended up happening. I don’t have any other information and I don’t know what he took.
“I’d like to move on and there will always be something (people asking questions) because it is hard not to think about that at some level.
“I’m hoping that the conclusion they came up with was true.”
The calm and composed manner Sinner exudes on and off the court has made the presentations of innocence all the more plausible, but a story like this tends to leave a lasting mark, as McEnroe suggests.
Did he get off the doping charges because he had expensive lawyers who knew how to navigate the appeals system?
Were tennis chiefs reluctant to throw their No 1 player out of the sport as it would have left a stain on the sport’s image?
These are the questions cynics will always ask when they reflect on the highest-profile failed drug test in the men’s game in recent years, even if their opinions are not entirely informed by facts.
The end result is the world No 1 tennis player will be known to some as ‘the guy who failed a couple of drug tests’ and that is a bad look for Sinner and tennis.
