"I had sleepless nights": Jannik Sinner opens up about struggle during doping scandal

Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner has once again opened up about difficulties during the doping scandal phase. The 23-year-old, who is already regarded as one of the best players in the world in men’s tennis in the singles category along with the likes of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, has been in the news for the wrong reasons as well.

Sinner tested positive for a banned substance, Clostebol, in two doping tests. However, the reigning world number one managed to escape a potential ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the player’s counsel response where they claimed that the availability of a banned substance in the player’s sample in minimal quantity was because of receiving a cream from one member of the coaching staff to treat an injury.

That decision received serious backlash from certain quarters of the tennis community, who demanded more uniform treatment for all players involved in such controversies. Sinner, who finished the 2024 season as the world number one and has a lead of more than 3,000 rating points over his closest rival Alexander Zverev, has been recently quoted in a report where he talked about the difficulties he faced during the time dealing with the doping scandal. The two-time Grand Slam winner stated that he had a hard time getting close to people and even had sleepless nights.

“It was a tough time,” he said. “I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I couldn’t vent or get help. All the people who knew me and watched me play understood that there was something wrong with me. I had sleepless nights, because even if you are certain of your innocence, you know that these things are complex. Everyone immediately told the truth and that allowed me to play. But at Wimbledon, I was white. And even afterwards, my feeling with people was fearful. I went into training at the Cincinnati clubhouse and thought, ‘How are they looking at me? What do they really think of me?’ I realized who my real friends are.”