Mumbai: Jannik Sinner walked out for his first practice hit in New York on Thursday to a warm round of applause from the spectators assembled to catch a glimpse of the world No. 1. Nothing unusual. Except nothing about the build-up to this US Open has been usual for the Italian.
In his breakout season in which the 23-year-old captured his first Grand Slam title in Australia and catapulted to the top of the rankings pile, Sinner is now riding through the swirling aftermath of revelations earlier this week that he avoided a doping ban over two positive tests in March.
The nitty-gritty of the case involving anabolic steroid clostebol used by his physiotherapist and the subsequent transfer to the player (as per the version provided by Sinner’s team), the process followed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to clear Sinner of wrongdoing and the swift and secretive timeframe of it all continues to remain a major talking point and divide opinions heading into the season-ending Slam.
But while that is about perceptions, interpretations and grey areas, it is crystal clear that this subject will accompany Sinner and put him in heightened spotlight over the next couple of weeks at the US Open. How he carries himself with it on and off the court will not only determine how far he goes at Flushing Meadows but also how steely nerved the youngster is in brushing aside distractions.
Pre-tournament press conferences before matches begin on Monday will be headlined by this subject. Every top player will be asked about it, and each will have their opinions. Sinner himself will have to front up and speak about it in public for the first time. The matter dates back to March but all along until the positive tests and the ruling were made public on Tuesday, Sinner and his team managed to keep things hush-hush. Now, despite Sinner writing on social media that he’d like to “put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me”, it will stare right back at him again.
{{/usCountry}}Pre-tournament press conferences before matches begin on Monday will be headlined by this subject. Every top player will be asked about it, and each will have their opinions. Sinner himself will have to front up and speak about it in public for the first time. The matter dates back to March but all along until the positive tests and the ruling were made public on Tuesday, Sinner and his team managed to keep things hush-hush. Now, despite Sinner writing on social media that he’d like to “put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me”, it will stare right back at him again.
{{/usCountry}}It’s not something he is too used to. Only 23, the former skier has rarely been on thin ice. His tennis career has so far largely been controversy free, and the soft-spoken Italian has majorly flown under the radar en route to his rise alongside the more colourful twenty-something peer Carlos Alcaraz. This season his rousing results, creditable consistency and Slam-winning shine did all the talking. Now this saga will have to do much of it.
Tennis stars are tuned to deal with distractions, yet not all can do it in much the same way. Novak Djokovic, for instance, can put aside deportations to return and pocket Slams like business as usual. Simona Halep, meanwhile, has hardly looked herself after coming back from her doping suspension.
Darren Cahill, Sinner’s coach, told ESPN he would “take my hat off” at the kind of results Sinner has produced going through what he has since March. Between that tournament at Indian Wells and his title triumph in Cincinnati last week, the Italian has produced some of his most consistent tennis: champion in Miami (it immediately followed Indian Wells), semi-finalist at French Open, champion in Halle, quarter-finalist at Wimbledon. Cahill, however, knew Sinner wasn’t quite himself on court all through the phase that underlined his numero uno status.
“We’ve been living this for the last few months. It’s been really, really difficult for him,” Cahill said. “If you are a Jannik fan, you would have seen a big change in his body language, physicality on the court, his excitement to be on the court – he’s struggled and I think it’s worn him down physically and mentally.
“I feel really bad for him, because he doesn’t deserve this. It stayed quiet because we believed he was innocent and there was no fault.”
Not everyone is buying into the last bit, of course. Opinions are pro and against the protagonist, some even by former and current players. Theories of the physio and the lawyers continue to float. Many have questioned the different brushes for different players thesis, including some who’ve experienced it firsthand; like British pro Tara Moore who was cleared last year after testing positive but missed playing for 19 months.
It’s been all Sinner chatter, two days before the start of a Grand Slam. How the man himself handles it in New York will reveal a lot about the player and his character.