About to start the 2025 Australian Open, Jannik Sinner faces the tournament as defender of the title and as a great favorite to retain it. The world number 1 starts the season after a brilliant 2024 in which he finished completely polishing his game, becoming champion in Melbourne and the US Open, in addition to winning the Masters Cup. However, in March of last year he tested positive for clostebol, an anabolic steroid, in two anti-doping tests. The facts became public in August.
The Italian reacted quickly to the International Agency for Tennis Integrity, alleging that it was an involuntary contamination caused by a gloveless massage given to him by his previous physiotherapist, who had used the substance to treat a finger injury. The organization quickly exonerated him.
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However, the man born in Innichen is still pending the scope of the complaint that the World Anti-Doping Agency transferred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which includes a possible suspension of one to two years. At the moment, there is still no resolution date. Sinner acknowledged this Friday at a press conference that he knows nothing about it and that he is focusing on his closest appointment.
“I know exactly the same as you. We are at a stage where we don’t know many things. Obviously you think about it and I would be lying if I said I had forgotten about it, but I haven’t. This is something that has been with me for quite some time, but it is what it is and now I am trying to prepare for this Slam,” he highlighted.
The Italian has also responded to the avalanche of criticism for this matter that he has received in recent weeks from the controversial Nick Kyrgios, who returned to the courts at the ATP 250 in Brisbane after a long period of recovery from his knee injuries. and doll.
“I don’t think I have to answer that. How do I block it? It’s not something you push aside and stop thinking about. Deep down I know exactly what happened and that’s how I think I block it. I didn’t do anything wrong and that’s why I’m here and continue playing. I don’t want to respond to what Nick or any other player has said. I think the most important thing is to have contrasting people around me who know what’s going on. That’s all,” the winner of 18 ATP titles explained about his non-sanction.
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In addition, Sinner has detailed that he has always been careful in his diet and in his medication consumption: “I’m not nervous because I’ve done the same thing before, nothing has changed. Before, I was very careful with each of the medications I took and what I ate. If I opened a new jar, I would throw it away and open another one. “I’ve always been very careful with this kind of thing.”
The Italian has had a bearable draw in the Australian Open draw. In the first round he will face the Chilean Nicolás Jarry and in the second he will face Taro Daniel or Schoolkate, the first coming from the previous round and the second with an invitation from the tournament. In the third round he would clash against Etcheverry, Giron or Cobolli and it would not be until the round of 16 where he would begin to have top opponents such as Hurkacz, Rune or Berrettini, who would be his possible rivals.
In the quarterfinals, the top player would be Tsitsipas, while De Minaur and Khachanov would appear as other contenders to face the number 1 in the world ranking. Things would get serious in a hypothetical semi-finals, with the possibility of meeting Taylor Fritz or Daniil Medvedev, with whom Sinner has a favorable head-to-head score of 8-7. And as it could not be otherwise, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Zverev start as big favorites to reach the final in Melbourne on the other side of the draw.
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