US Open 2024: I believe in Jannik Sinner’s innocence | Tennis | Sports

A few hours before the start of the fourth Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, the hottest news is still the double positive for Clostebol that Jannik Sinner gave in March. After the appropriate explanations given by both the Italian player and his team, it is absolutely clear to me that the Italian player will not commit a crime, much less try to gain any benefit from the use of banned substances.

I know this player well enough to say without hesitation that he is one of the most correct and educated on the circuit. It is inconceivable to me that he could act deceitfully, knowing that he was doing so. There was a mistake within his team, which I believe was sufficiently remedied by the financial sanction imposed on the tennis player by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in the amount of 325,000 US dollars (290,000 euros) and the loss of 400 points.

The daily life of players is sometimes extremely vulnerable in this respect. Any slip or unfortunate error can lead to an often exaggerated punishment. I remember, to cite just one example, a case we encountered during my time on tour: a sanction imposed on an Argentine doubles player who, with obvious problems with alopecia, regularly used a drug that, year after year, had become a banned product. The officials obviously knew that this player had no intention of gaining an illegal advantage. And yet, driven by their commitment to theoretical fair play and, moreover, aware of the small importance this player had, they wanted the full weight of the law to fall on him.

Today, these same leaders are accused of double standards, because in this case they believe that the Sinner should not be punished. It is noteworthy that some media, far from being dissatisfied with disproportionate punishments in other cases, are now demanding a similar punishment for the current number one in the ATP rankings. It is still surprising that there are people who, without fully knowing each case, are always ready to express their opinion, judge and, most importantly, condemn others.

And yet, what surprises me even more is that it is within the tennis industry that some of his colleagues are against him. I do not understand that some of his colleagues, players who have undoubtedly trained with him or faced him as an opponent and are well aware of the relentless monitoring that the World Anti-Doping Agency exercises over all of them (with a particular emphasis on the players in a more advantageous position; if not, ask them) – are the ones who sow doubts about his innocence or outright want a punishment that they know is disproportionate.

For the sake of a healthy society, in this case as in many others, we should remember, and not be fooled by, the statement of one of the major writers and thinkers of German history, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Evil needs no cause, a pretext is enough.”

As Yannick himself pointed out, this is not the best approach to a tournament of this kind. The mystery will be revealed in the coming days. I hope and wish that it will be positive, and that a great Italian player can compete despite all these controversies, and that his tennis will contribute to us enjoying this great event again.

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