“My feeling with people was fearful” – Sinner on the impact of positive result

World No 1 Jannik Sinner revealed that he felt judged when he walked into the locker room in Cincinnati due to his positive test result.

In an interview with Esquire Australia, the Italian spoke about the difficult time he had to go through when he first learnt about the news of the positive test.

“It was a tough time. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I couldn’t vent or get help,” Sinner said in the interview. “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 realised who my real friends are.”

Sinner was cleared of any wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) but World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided to appeal the decision, and an outcome of that appeal is pending.

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