World No.1 Jannik Sinner is keen to put his doping scandal in the rearview mirror as he returns to Melbourne Park as the reigning champion.
Sinner came from two sets to love down to win his first grand slam title on Rod Laver Arena in 2024, defeating Daniil Medvedev.
The Italian’s future is under a cloud after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed a decision to ban him for one month for twice testing positive for an anabolic steroid last March.
“We are in a stage where we don’t know many, many things,” Sinner said on Friday at his pre-tournament press conference.
“Yeah, you think about this, of course. I would lie if I would tell you I forget. No, it’s not like this.
“It’s something what I have with me now already for quite a long time, but it is what it is.
“I’m here trying to prepare for the grand slam. Let’s see how it goes.”
The head of men’s tennis rejected claims Sinner has received favourable treatment and is confident the sport will “survive” if the world No.1 ultimately cops a lengthy doping ban.
In an exclusive and candid interview with AAP, the ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi insisted Sinner’s doping affair had been “run by the book” and that, just like Novak Djokovic – who has complained about players being left in the dark over the controversy – he too wasn’t told before the firestorm.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled Sinner was not at fault, accepting the 23-year-old’s explanation that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who apparently used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
But with WADA appealing, Sinner could still serve a suspension of up to two years if found guilty.
Gaudenzi is urging fans and the media to be patient and let the matter play out.
“I genuinely believe there has been a lot of misinformation out there, which is unfortunate,’ Gaudenzi told AAP ahead of Sinner’s Open title defence starting on Sunday.
“I am 100 per cent sure that there has not been any preferential treatment. The process has been run by the book and according to the rules, by the ITIA.
“I’m extremely pleased that the ITIA is now in place, which wasn’t the case, for example, in the ’90s when I was playing. It was the responsibility of the ATP or the WTA to manage the tennis anti-doping program.”
Jannik Sinner with the trophy after defeating Taylor Fritz. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Gaudenzi said he wasn’t informed of the Sinner saga before many others, and pleaded for patience.
“I found out two days before the announcement from the ITA – the way it should have been,” he explained at Melbourne Park.
“I initially was a bit shocked. (But) it is completely independent and they obviously went to an independent panel.”
Gaudenzi believes it’s lazy for armchair critics to offer up “conspiracy theories”.
“It’s a very popular thing to say – he’s No.1 in the world, obviously he’s Italian and I’m Italian,” Gaudenzi said.
“People sometimes confuse the outcome of a specific case versus the process. I think that’s where the problem is.
“The process is identical – he hasn’t been treated differently. But every case is different, every circumstance is different.
“Sometimes a player might appeal a suspension and might not get the appeal. Sometimes they do, and it depends on the evidence and it depends on the expert opinion and it depends on the substance.
“It depends on a very large number of variables.”
Gaudenzi is pleading for fans and stakeholders to let the matter play out.
“The case is still ongoing. WADA appealed so it is not over yet and justice is doing its course,” he said.
“But I really want to underline and assure everyone that the process has been 100 per cent by the book.
“And we have the full evidence and anyone who wants to dig deeper and actually read the documents, we’ll understand.”
If Sinner does get banned, Gaudenzi concedes “obviously it’s not good for the sport and it would be a shame”.
“But we will have to live with it and justice will do its course,” he said.
“If that is the case, I think he’ll survive and I think we’ll survive. Overall, tennis is a very strong product.
“When I started, I was in the age of ‘OK, you’re going to have an issue because Rafa (Nadal) or Roger (Federer) or Novak (Djokovic) are retiring and there’s a new generation’.
“And I’ve lived through the whole Agassi and Sampras, ‘when they retire it’s going to be a disaster’ type of thing.
“But the whole product is very, very strong.”