Former Roger Federer coach Ivan Ljubicic said that Jannik Sinner’s mental strength was demonstrated throughout the whole scandal, so he ought to feel a lot better now that he’s been found innocent of any wrongdoing after failing his drug tests.
At the Indian Wells Open in March, the world No. 1 tested positive for the illegal steroid clostebol in two different tests. However, he was permitted to play on after filing successful appeals.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared nearly five months after the initial results that Sinner was not at fault or negligent because the substance had entered their system due to contamination from a support team member who had been treating a small wound on their own skin with an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol, which was available in Italy.
The news caused an uproar in the tennis community since many felt that Sinner was given special treatment because other players had previously been suspended until they could establish their innocence.
After the recent news, former world No. 3 Ljubicic, who coached Federer from 2015 until his retirement in 2022, discussed Sinner’s mindset.
He talked about it and said: “This makes us realise how strong he is mentally. I can’t know what it’s like to live with this information inside you for months. He has still managed to be competitive, he has always played very well and won important tournaments like Cincinnati a week ago. Now he will certainly feel lighter, he will feel like he has taken a big rock out of his shoes and will finally be able to focus on tennis and try to play well at the US Open that he hasn’t won yet.”
He added: “We remember here some of his spectacular matches, against Carlos Alcaraz and everything. I think he’s feeling much better mentally now; physically, we saw him in Cincinnati, and he’s pretty good. I think by now the whole tennis world has understood what happened. Very few people think that Jannik really tried to do something forbidden. From what I read and hear, the only thing is that so many of our colleagues are a little surprised by the process that Jannik had and that no one had before him.”
Jannik Sinner in 2024
Currently ranked no.1, Sinner played his last match on the 19th of August when he beat world no.20 Francis Tiafoe 7-6(4) 6-2 in the final in Cincinnati to win his 16th career title.
At present, during this year Jannik owns a composed 48-5 match record. The Italian has won 5 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle and Cincinnati.
Jannik Sinner will face the world no.140 Mackenzie Mcdonald in the 1st round on Tuesday at 2:00 pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Their current head to head is 3-0 for Sinner.
Sinner conquered 5 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle and Cincinnati.
Jannik won 16 titles in his career: 7 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts, 7 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
He is also scheduled to play in Shanghai (Shanghai Rolex Masters) on the 30th of September and Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) on the 28th of October.
Jannik Sinner |
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