Jannik Sinner was told he did 'nothing wrong' in doping saga before lifting US Open title
Jannik Sinner won the US Open weeks after it was ruled that he "bore no fault" for two anti-doping violations.
Jannik Sinner’s coach has revealed that he told the Italian he did “nothing wrong” during his doping saga.
Days before the US Open started, an independent tribunal had ruled that Sinner “bore no fault or negligence” after twice testing positive for banned substance clostebol in March.
The news was kept under wraps until after the hearing concluded and debate around whether Sinner received special treatment dominated the first few days of the US Open.
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By default, the world No. 1 had been provisionally suspended after both positive tests. But within hours, his team successfully argued that the tests were the result of contamination via his then-physio. Three experts found this explanation plausible and the International Tennis Integrity Agency did not object, so Sinner was allowed to continue playing.
The final ruling also meant he avoided a ban. After the news broke, Nick Kyrgios called for him to be suspended. Even Roger Federer commented on the “inconsistencies” compared to how other players are treated following anti-doping violations. But the 23-year-old’s coach Darren Cahill staunchly defended him.
After Sinner put the saga behind him to lift his second Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows, the Australian tennis coach covered his face and appeared to tear up He later admitted the weight of the doping case got to him.
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“I think that is more of an old man’s reaction, to be honest. An exhausted old man,” Cahill told ESPN. “I am not the main coach in this team - Simone [Vagnozzi] is the main coach - but I am the most experienced, so the last three or four weeks, or the last four months, really a lot of what has been going on within the team has laid on my shoulders.
“(I have had) to keep a sense of things, to keep his focus on what we were trying to achieve, to make sure I continually tell him that he has done nothing wrong, so that whatever happens, hold your head up high, because you have done absolutely nothing wrong.
“Let’s just go about our tennis in a professional way through this period and once we get through it, we can go from there. We got through it and it was not without some stress, a lot of stress, so I think that reaction was more about that.”
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Cahill has some experience with doping cases. He previously coached Simona Halep who tested positive for roxadustat a year after they ended their partnership but he continually defended her. And he wanted to make sure Sinner could focus on his tennis during the months of uncertainty waiting for his hearing.
“That is what real coaching is about, because you care,” he explained. “Unless your player knows that you are invested and really cares about not just the performance, but (them) as a person, and I speak about Jannik’s tennis quite a lot, but I speak about him more as a person than anything.”
Cahill and Sinner also had a pre-final chat about the difficult period and the 58-year-old became overwhelmed when the top seed got his hands on the trophy. “Even before the match, I spoke to him about the fact he has handled himself in a way over the last three or four weeks that has shown honesty,” he added.
“He has had built-in resilience and he has everything to be proud of, so go out and enjoy it, because (he) absolutely belongs being there. That is kind of my role. I think the emotions you saw come out at the end of the match were about the fact it has been a long three or four months, for sure.”
