ATP > Jannik Sinner (on his doping affair): “I realized that there were a lot of players who I thought were my friends and who weren’t. And that didn’t do me any good in the end, but it made me realize a lot of things”

After talking about his place as world number 1 and his taste for work during a long interview with Sky Sports, Jannik Sinner inevitably returned to his doping affair following his positive tests during the Masters 1000 at Indian Wells in last March. A difficult affair to manage but which allowed him to sort out his friends.

“The hardest moment, in my opinion, was when the news broke. And it came at a very delicate moment, because it was before a Grand Slam (Roland‐Garros, editor’s note). I already wanted to train on Wednesday, the news came on Tuesday and we decided that it was better not to do it, because there would be too much noise at the club, so we went there on Thursday, in the evening, because a lot people were going to leave. We arrived and we were all on top of ourselves, it was very hard. I looked at the other players to see what they were really thinking. I asked myself so many questions, it was difficult to prepare for a Grand Slam like that. But in the end, I am convinced that nothing happens by chance, and perhaps in this case it was about understanding who is your friend and who is not. And I separated those two things. And I realized that there were a lot of players that I didn’t think were my friends, and there were quite a few that I thought were my friends that weren’t. And it didn’t do me any good in the end, but it made me realize a lot of things. »

Published on Thursday October 24, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.