This won’t be just any US Open for Jannik Sinner.
The men’s top seed, who broke through to his first major singles title at the Australian Open in January, and in June rose to No. 1–the first Italian to do so in singles since the computerized rankings were introduced in 1973–will be carrying some extra weight.
Only days before the tournament, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed that the 23-year-old Italian had twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol in March during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Though an independent tribunal has since cleared him of any wrongdoing, Sinner knows he’ll not only be up against his opponents on the tennis court, he’ll also face scrutiny away from it.
“Of course, it’s not ideal before a Grand Slam,” he said on Friday in Flushing Meadows, where he’s preparing for an opening-round matchup with American Mackenzie McDonald. “But in my mind, I know that I haven’t done anything wrong.
"I had to play already months with this in my head, but just remembering myself that I haven’t done really anything wrong. I always respect these rules, and I always will respect these rules of anti-doping.”
Sinner called the ITIA ruling “a relief."
“It has been a very tough moment for me and my team,” said Sinner, who was stripped of his ranking points, prize money and results from Indian Wells.
Sinner arrived in New York on the heels of winning his second ATP Masters 1000 title of 2024 at the Cincinnati Open. Even amidst all his achievements this year, his tour-best five titles, his form came as somewhat of a surprise. A hip complaint appeared to limit his effectiveness on the Grand Slam stage at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this summer, and he was forced to sit out the Paris Olympics with a case of tonsillitis. He grimaced in pain during a quarterfinal loss to Andrey Rublev in Montreal, often grasping his hip.
But the lanky, 6-foot-3 baseliner mostly looked like his No. 1 self in Cincinnati, avenging that loss to Rublev, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, then dismissing Alexander Zverev (7-6(9), 5-7, 7-6(4)) and Frances Tiafoe (7-6(4), 6-2) in succession to take the Rookwood Cup.
It won’t get any easier for Sinner at the US Open.
Off-court challenges aside, he is tasked with navigating a quadrant of the draw that includes the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Arthur Fils. Beyond that could be a much-anticipated semifinal showdown with Carlos Alcaraz in what would be a rematch of their 2022 US Open epic, a five-set quarterfinal that lasted some five hours and 15 minutes and stretched until a tournament-record-late finish of 2:50 a.m. (Alcaraz ultimately prevailed, 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3, and went on to claim his maiden Grand Slam trophy.)
But in many ways, Sinner’s tournament has already begun, at least from a pressure standpoint.
“The preparation for this tournament has not been perfect because of certain circumstances,” explained Sinner, who says he has cut ties with trainer Umberto Ferrara and physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi in the wake of the ITIA news. “But, you know, it’s out. It’s something that I was waiting for, waiting for the result. So now it’s out, and that’s it.”
While he’s well aware that his image could take a hit, Sinner says he now knows “who is my friend and who is not my friend,” and that, outside of that, there’s only so much he can control.
“Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion,” Darren Cahill, Sinner’s coach along with Simone Vagnozzi, told ESPN this week. “I know this is a highly sensitive issue for everybody—all coaches, all players, all fans. I will just stress again that Jannik is the most professional young man that I’ve had a chance to work with. ... He’s honest to the core.”
