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Men's world number one Jannik Sinner admits he thought about walking away from tennis prior to accepting a three-month doping ban earlier this year. Jannik Sinner, the number-one ranked men's tennis player in the world, accepts a three-month suspension for two positive doping tests after striking a deal with WADA. WADA had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against an independent tribunal's decision last August to clear Sinner, who had tested positive for anabolic agent Clostebol.
Sinner claimed the banned substance entered his system from a member of his support team through massages and sports therapy. , with the WADA case in the background. Sinner said he considered giving up tennis at the time.
"I remember before the Australian Open this year, I was not in a very happy moment because there was still that case of doping," Sinner told Italian broadcaster RAI. "I didn't feel really comfortable in the locker room, where I ate. "It was a bit like some players looked at me differently and I didn't like it at all.
And there I said it's heavy to live tennis in this way. "I didn't feel comfortable." Sinner says he felt distracted during his Australian Open title defence.
Sinner was then forced into a break by the ban but is now back in training for the upcoming Italian Open this month. "Slowly, I'm getting back into the rhythm of real training with a goal in front of me," Sinner said. "Sometimes it goes very well, sometimes there is a drop and I don't know why, so I will certainly be very happy to return to the court.
"Especially in Rome, it is a special tournament for me, but I certainly enter with a slightly different mentality. I miss the competition. Two-time grand slam doubles champion Max Purcell accepts an 18-month doping ban from the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
"I am certainly very happy that this phase is now over and we are ready to start again." Sinner's settlement attracted criticism from both current and former players. Serena Williams claimed she would have been banned for 20 years and had major titles taken away had she tested positive in a similar fashion.
"Everyone is free to say what they want, everyone can judge, but that's OK," Sinner said. "It's important to me that I know how that happened, but above all also of what I went through and it was very difficult. "I don't wish it on anyone to really pass as innocent something like that because it wasn't easy, but we are in a world where everyone can say what they want, so it's OK.
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