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Jannik Sinner had admitted he considered giving up on tennis earlier this year in the aftermath of his anti-doping case as he struggled to handle the criticism and doubts from his colleagues on the ATP tour.
“When I arrived in Australia in January I was uncomfortable, also because it seemed to me that the other players looked at me differently. For a moment, I even thought about giving up everything,” Sinner told the Italian TV station RA.
Sinner will return to professional tennis next week on home soil at the Italian Open in Rome after being suspended for three months in a case resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).
In March last year Sinner tested positive for the banned substance clostebol before being cleared of deliberate wrongdoing by an independent tribunal at the first-instance hearing in August. The tribunal ruled that Sinner bore no fault or negligence for the positive tests and would receive no ban. Wada appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and a hearing was set for April before Wada and Sinner’s team entered a case resolution agreement in February, which is essentially a settlement, with the two parties agreeing on a three-month ban.
Sinner’s case is one of the most high profile anti-doping cases in the history of tennis and some players have argued that the Italian received preferential treatment, which Sinner and the anti-doping governing bodies deny. After experiencing those doubts, Sinner said he sought refuge in his surrounding family and friends. “In the end I built my own bubble, where no one else entered, and this certainly gave me the desire to continue, the desire to prepare well for the slams,” he said. “I am very happy that this phase is over and I am ready to start again, even if a period of stop, maybe not so long, was necessary for me.”
As he ramped up his training before his return, Sinner sparred with Great Britain’s Jack Draper in Monte Carlo two weeks ago. Draper, who describes Sinner as a friend, has been one of the few top players to unequivocally support Sinner publicly.
“When people ask about him, or anyone, I’ll tell the truth,” Draper said last week in Madrid. “I think Jannik is a really, really genuine, nice person. And on top of that, he’s obviously an unbelievable player. In this situation, I’m sure that he would have absolutely zero idea of anything. That’s just the way life goes – sometimes there’s mistakes. In terms of actually how I feel about him as a person, I think it’s important for people to know and recognise that the guy’s very, very kind-hearted and a good human being. So he doesn’t deserve any of the hate that he gets.”
Sinner ended the Australian Open with his third grand slam title and during his three month suspension, no player has come close to usurping him as the ATP No 1.
