Jannik Sinner opens up on failed doping tests and reveals dark Wimbledon moment
Jannik Sinner has opened up on the agony he has lived through after his failed doping tests in his most revealing interview yet.
Sinner, who won the US Open earlier this month, twice tested positive for an anabolic steroid in March, but 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.
Yet the story was reignited as the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on the 23-year-old Italian.
That appeal ensures this explosive story will continue to rumble on into 2025, with Sinner now revealing for the first time how big a toll it has taken on him.
Now Siner has given his verdict on the events of the last few months, as his interview with Sky Sports Uno in Italy that was recorded last month has now been released.
“There are many things that happened in this period that I tried to put aside and understand what is the right thing to do at that moment,” said Sinner.
“I’m talking about myself now, I have to thank my team that was close to me the whole time because I needed it. For example, Darren didn’t go home to Australia and came to me, he was with me, my dad came. Thanks to them I felt safe. Protected.
“And precisely for this reason when I say that when you win tournaments or even matches that mean a lot, I always dedicate them to the people who are close to me, because without them I don’t know how I could have overcome all of this.
“I’m happy with how I handled it because it was very difficult. But the moment I go on the court and put on my cap, for me only the tennis ball exists.
“On the court, I feel safe. Then we saw that it is difficult to play like that, but that is another matter. But I feel safe.
“When I see the ball and I am about to serve, all my focus and desire is to hit the ball on the court. Because in the end it is my job and my passion. The problem and the work had to be separated.”
Sinner went on to reveal his turmoil reached boiling point the night before he took on Daniil Medvedev in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July, as he struggled to get to the end of the match due to physical issues.
“I have always tried to feel good on the court, I have always trained, I have always prepared myself mentally to play tennis well and in the end it is precisely for this reason that I succeeded. Also because, this is the most important thing, if I had known that it was my fault, in my opinion, I would not have played like that.
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“It was difficult first of all because I couldn’t open up to many people,” he added. “It was a very complicated period because I didn’t know how I had to behave, personally, I didn’t know what would come out, I didn’t know what would happen with the team.
“It was very difficult, normally I’m always in control, and instead there it was quite easy to lose it, control.
“After a few weeks, I woke up one morning and said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong’. I didn’t know anything, and so for me it was already over, then what comes out from the judge, what can or can’t come out in the end I can’t control anymore, right?”
“Of course, it was complicated when I knew but nothing had come out yet.”
Sinner’s agony looks set to continue as he mounts a defence against the WADA appeal, with his ability to find a way to focus on tennis despite the chaos around him highlighted by his win at the US Open and his $6million windfall from winning the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
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