The first time I saw Jannik Sinner play tennis in person was a couple of years ago during a practice session the Sunday before the US Open started. I didn’t know much about him at the time, but the pace he hit his shots and his ease in covering the court was impressive, even compared to the other pros. It seemed like only a matter of time until he was part of the sport’s upper echelon, especially with the game’s big three coming to its closing stanza.
That is what happened, with Sinner winning his first major in January at the Australian Open and currently holding the men’s number one tour ranking. He’s fresh off a win at the Cincinnati Open, and he comes into the US Open as a smart choice to win it all.
But it seems we may have been closer than we knew to a different fate, at least by reports that came out on Tuesday that Sinner would be allowed to play in the Open despite failing two drug tests in March for an anabolic steroid called Clostebol, which although banned is often used for ophthalmological and dermatological use. The excuse given was this somehow got into Sinner’s system when his fitness trainer bought an over-the-counter spray in Italy and gave it to his physiotherapist who used it on a cut on his finger then treated Sinner when he wasn’t wearing gloves. So it’s a simple game of anabolic steroid telephone. After a hearing and investigation by International Tennis Integrity Agency, which is a real thing, they’ve decided not to suspend Sinner and affirm his story. The Tour has declared there’s no negligence and reminded players to pay attention to what they put into their bodies, or what your trainer may massage into it. Sinner will lose some rankings points from the Indian Wells tournament and a few hundred thousand in earnings, but consider that a rounding error in high stakes game.
What’s most surprising isn’t that Sinner isn’t getting suspended. It’s that this is the first we’re heard about it. Where you might expect that this would have been public and Sinner might have been temporarily suspended until the case was adjudicated, it all remained under wraps while the world’s top ranked player kept playing. That’s not how it always happens, and some are now suggesting this would have different if it were player 100 instead of player number 1. Canadian player Denis Shapovalov said, “different rules for different players.” Australian Tennys Sandgren said, “how this was handled really doesn’t seem fair compared to other players.” And tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios said it was “ridiculous” and indicated Sinner deserved a ban. While it doesn’t sound like most people agree with that, there does seem some consensus that the powers that be wanted to make sure this wasn’t the story as tennis led through the French Open to the Olympics and the season ending US Open. That having the world’s new king on cheating alert wasn’t the greatest look with the lights shining bright.
Some of that aside, let me start with this – I don’t think Jannik Sinner should be suspended. And I say that with the same level of understanding of this substances as your average Joe who watched an episode of Breaking Bad. I tend to believe his story, perhaps simply because I want to but also because it seems like a really dumb way to try and cheat. Perhaps more to the point, this test only seems to confirm how both byzantine and impossible drug policies are. Because on the one hand, the only way to stop cheating is to try and catch cheats – and punish accordingly. On the other hand, any process with teeth is going to have a lot of carnal damage. It's like fishing for tuna with a net. Like it or not, you’re going to catch some dolphin by accident. So I don’t agree with Nick Kyrgios – who’s as much gadfly as savant. Sinner shouldn’t be suspended, nor should Nick be in the same situation. But I also agree that yes, it’s fairly likely had Nick failed, we might have heard about this sooner. None of which is comforting to anyone who likes to use words like “clean” and “fair” when promoting sport.
For now though, I’m unlikely to think much about it when I head to Flushing Meadow next week. Right or wrong, I’m just happy I’ll be able to watch Jannik Sinner play tennis in person.
Keith Strudler is the director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler
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