Jannik Sinner, the top seed in the world, made it to the US Open semifinals despite a controversial drug case, and John McEnroe has commended Sinner’s mental toughness.

The American icon acknowledged that if the Italian turned out to have doped, it would be extremely sad for our sport.

In March, Sinner tested positive for a prohibited substance twice; however, on the occasion of the US Open, the International Tennis Integrity Agency acknowledged that the Italian star had unintentionally been contaminated during a massage, saving Sinner from a ban.

Nick Kyrgios said it was absurd there was no ban, which infuriated other players due to the no-fault verdict’s speed. The Italian has been the talk of the season’s last Grand Slam after winning his final warm-up event at the Cincinnati Masters.

McEnroe talked about it in a discussion and said: “I give him a lot of credit for the mental resilience he has shown over the last few weeks. In the first round, he lost the first set and he was down a break. You were like: ‘What’s going on?’ Stuff’s swirling in his head. So a lot of kudos for Jannik Sinner and the way he has played. Would there be a stain or an asterisk if he were to win a second Major here? My opinion would be no. I wish this had been decided quicker, the whole episode when it came out. I sure hope there was nothing to it. It would be absolutely super depressing for our sport. He is one of our brightest young stars.”

Now that Sinner has advanced to the semifinals in each of the four majors, the Australian Open champion is striving to win both of this season’s hardcourt Slams.

Sinner at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2024

Currently ranked no.1, Jannik has managed to achieve a 53-5 win-loss record in 2024. The Italian is currently playing at the U.S. Open where he toppled the world no.140 Mackenzie Mcdonald 2-6 6-2 6-1 6-2

, the world no.49 Alex Michelsen 6-4 6-0 6-2, the world no.87 Christopher O Connell 6-1 6-4 6-2, the world no.14 Tommy Paul 7-6(3) 7-6(5) 6-1 and the world no.5 Daniil Medvedev 6-2 1-6 6-1 6-4.

Jannik Sinner will play the world no.25 Jack Draper in the semifinal on Friday at 2:00 pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Draper.

Sinner clinched 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)

Sinner has scheduled to play next in Beijing (China Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 23rd of September.