Jannik Sinner talks about the very negative impact the doping case had on his health and well-being

Jannik Sinner is the first to admit that his doping saga has had a big impact on him. The world number 1 says that he had many ‘sleepless nights’ and that his health problems, according to him, were the result of the enormous stress he was under.

Between March and last week, no one, except the tennis authorities and Sinner, knew that there was a doping investigation into the Italian’s two failed doping tests. But in the end, it went in the Italian tennis star’s favor, after he was able to prove that he was the victim of a contaminated product and that there was “no fault or negligence” on his part.

Although Sinner was allowed to continue playing and ultimately avoided a suspension, the fact is that he hasn’t been the same since the first three months of the season – he went 22-1 through Miami and won three titles. Since then, the 23-year-old has won Halle and the Cincinnati Masters, but has also suffered from injuries and a few losses that have clearly left him not feeling his usual self.

“It has quite an impact because I was sick, I didn’t feel so energetic on the court. I think you saw that for example in Wimbledon. Sometimes I had sleepless nights, because when I think about it, there were some physical problems, maybe because of that, the first problem was because of my hip in Monaco, just when it came out,” Sinner told ESPN.

“So there have been some really tough moments during this whole process. I felt different on court, I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t myself on court, but hopefully now I can turn the page. I’m not saying I will do that now because it still takes some time, but I just want to be happy on court again and enjoy and share great moments with the crowd.”

Sinner keeps US Open expectations low due to circumstances

The ITIA investigation cleared Sinner, but fans and some of his colleagues were unhappy with the way things were handled. And one of the things that baffled many was that the world number one was allowed to continue playing while an ongoing doping investigation was underway – normally a player is provisionally suspended until the decision is made.

Those conversations have created a new wave of negativity that Sinner has to deal with. And even though Sinner won Cincinnati in his last tournament, he doesn’t want to put high expectations on himself because of the situation he’s in.

“Like I said before, knowing I haven’t done anything wrong, very low expectations in every tournament I go into, and I have the same here, low expectations because of everything I’m going through. And I’m still trying my best, trying to fight, trying to run for every ball and also accepting these kinds of things, which hopefully can make me grow from here and look forward to competing again in a… let’s say normal way,” Sinner explained.

The sinner struggled, but felt innocent in his spirit

After failing twice due to anabolic steroids, Sinner appeared in a total of seven tournaments before it all came out last Tuesday. Unfortunately for Sinner, it probably couldn’t have come at the worst time, as it provoked a very negative reaction towards him just days before the start of the US Open.

“Of course it’s not ideal for a Grand Slam. But you know, in my head I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve had to play with this in my head for months, but you know, just reminding myself that I didn’t do anything wrong. I always respect these rules, and I will always respect these rules of anti-doping,” Sinner said.

“Yeah, just a relief for myself to have this result. And yeah, it’s just nice to be back here. It’s a great city, a great place to play tennis. I’ll just try to enjoy it as much as I can and hopefully have a good tournament.”

At the US Open, the top seeded Sinner will face world number 140 Mackenzie McDonald. In the past, they have faced each other three times, with the Italian winning each time.

Since becoming a Grand Slam winner at the Australian Open, Sinner lost the semi-final of Roland Garros to Carlos Alcaraz and was defeated in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon by Daniil Medvedev.

When it comes to the US Open specifically, Sinner has only reached the quarterfinals once so far in Flushing Meadows. It remains to be seen whether Sinner can block out the noise and potentially win his first US Open title.