Bill Simons
New York
Whether you call it fan week or “US Open eve,” the late days of August before America’s snazzy Grand Slam are meant to be the most upbeat stretch of the year for American tennis fans – a time full of anticipation and joy.
But not so much this year.
For days, the No. 1 question has been, “What the heck is up with the No. 1 player in the world?” Is the sweet, quiet and personable Jannik Sinner actually a sinner? Did the nice guy from high in the Italian Alps pull a fast one? Was the redhead simply caught red handed? Or was Jannik a not very unique example of players becoming ensnared in the minutiae of drug enforcement?
Here we are again. Once more, tennis is juggling competing, “He said/she said” narratives. Did the dog really eat the homework?
Remember when Maria Sharapova was suspended for drug use? Should we give Nick Kyrgios a pass on that domestic violence case in Australia? He settled out of court, so let’s move on – right?
For years fans have wrestled with two different narratives about horrific domestic abuse accusations directed at Alexander Zverev. In the first instance, a long, sometimes criticized ATP investigation said there wasn’t enough evidence to do anything. In the second case, reportedly for the sake of his young daughter, Zverev settled the case before any judgement was made and without any admission of guilt. Still some noted that at the French Open Sascha clearly told us that he knows what he did and he knows what he didn’t do. But to this day it appears that he still hasn’t explained exactly he did and did not do in the two cases. He bristles about it when anyone dares to broach the topic. Ask him about it at your own risk.
As for Sinner, Jannik insists he didn’t do anything wrong. The Aussie Open champ added, “I’m just a simple tennis player, no?” Yes, but he’s a superstar in Italy. His face is on billboards from Sicily to Milan. He has a net worth of $15 million and he has contracts with Gucci and Lavazza Coffee plus a $158 million Nike deal. In other words, he can hire the best of lawyers.
Okay, but some feel tennis overdoes it – there’s just too much testing. Andy Roddick noted that tennis has “probably the largest list of banned substances, compared to every other sport. Like, I can’t buy…athlete’s foot stuff.”
In Sinner’s test, the banned substance Clostebol, an anabolic steroid, appeared in a miniscule amount of less than a billionth of a gram. That’s 58,000 times smaller than a grain of salt. Plus, it was said to have entered his system as a result of a massage that his now fired physio inadvertently gave him without gloves.
Jannik argued that from the outset he followed all the protocols and now he’s been exonerated. But critics howled, “Not so fast!” Sinner did test positive twice.
After two tests were administered in March in Indian Wells, he went on to win the Miami Open, he became No. 1 and he prevailed at the Cincinnati Open.
So where was the transparency? Should the International Tennis Integrity Authority have let us know about the investigation?
When Simona Halep flunked a drug test it became public and her career was derailed. Jenson Brooksby was suspended for missing three drug tests. Will he ever again return to the top 50?
But, come on, Sinner wasn’t drugging himself, say his fans. Then again, the WTA’s Tara Moore was suspended for 19 months after unwittingly eating some contaminated meat, and American Ashley Kratzer got four years for using a bad cream in China. And they didn’t have powerhouse lawyers.
Friday, the media handler at Sinner’s press conference tried to limit the discussion of Jannik’s situation to just one question.
Reporters barked in protest, and the 23-year-old bravely soldiered on, answering a slew of questions. His “I didn’t do nothin’ wrong” claims all seemed credible. He was a good witness. We’ve long known he’s a sincere, really appealing guy who deeply loves his sport.
But some were critical. At first Canadian Denis Shapovalov commented, “Different rules for different players.” In a French kind of way, former No. 10 Lucas Pouille suggested, “Maybe we should stop taking us for fools, no?”
Nick Kyrgios contended, “Ridiculous — whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance…you should be gone for two years. Your performance was enhanced. Massage cream…Yeah nice.” Then things got spicier. Some insisted that the Aussie’s comment was sour grapes since Sinner is dating his former partner, Russian Anna Kalinskaya.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic seemed to speak for many. The Spaniard said, “I think there’s something behind this that a lot of people don’t know. I don’t even know. In the end, it’s something very difficult to talk about.”
Novak noted, “I understand the frustration of the players…because of a lack of consistency…As I understood, his case was cleared basically [at] the moment it was announced.
“We see a lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same.
“In the end, he tested positive, but there must be a reason that allowed him to keep playing that we don’t know…He was declared innocent, and so we have Jannik in the tournament.”
And we have tennis in a tizzy. Let’s just hope that this troubling case leads to improved, sensible rules and consistent transparency, and that the US Open final doesn’t come down to a battle between Jannik, the focus of this summer’s scandal, and Zverev, the focal point of the brouhaha last spring.
In the end, Sinner himself noted that the situation was “not ideal before a Grand Slam.”
On that we can all agree.
Also reporting: Vinay Venkatesh
