The No. 1 Tennis Player In The World Was Caught Doping
The No. 1 Tennis Player In The World Was Caught Doping
It's complicated.
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Someone needs to put this tennis boy in check and please do not make that person Tashi Duncan. She’s busy!
On Tuesday, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that tennis star Jannik Sinner tested positive for a banned substance on two occasions.
Unlike other tennis stars (Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep) who were handed suspensions, Sinner is not being punished.
Why, you ask?
Well, according to ITIA, it was determined that the banned substance “…entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist.”
So! Many! Questions!
Before digging into my questions, you have to understand Sinner’s place in the tennis world.
He’s currently ranked no. 1 but has only one won Grand Slam (Australian Open). Of course, winning one Grand Slam is a feat, but we all know that the Australian Open doesn’t have the same allure as winning Wimbledon.
Sinner gets that *allure* by having a very good publicist and agent.
Earlier this year, he (his publicist, let’s be real) landed a profile in Vogue, where Sinner’s red hair is described in a way that my red hair has never been described with such….affection:
“It's red, and it’s spectacular. It tumbles forth in a mop of cherubic curls.”
At 18, Sinner signed a global ambassador contract with Rolex when he wasn’t even ranked in the top 50 yet!
Later that year, he signed another deal with the car brand Alfa Romeo (he’s Italian btw).
In 2022, Sinner signed a new 10-year deal with Nike worth a reported $150 million and became an ambassador for Gucci despite not knowing fashion “at all,” according to his GQ profile in June, where the writer said he had a “shock of red hair” in case you were curious.
In that same year, he also signed a deal with Lavazza.
In 2023, he was named a ‘Friend of F1,’ which really just sounds like he was paid $$$ to show up at the Monaco Grand Prix (where he’s based) and get rich Gen-Z kids to watch that Netflix show.
Just this year, he became the face of La Roche-Posay to help “address the lack of protection and education around UV rays.”
Whatever that means!
For the record, that Anthelios sunscreen is fine, but it certainly isn’t as good as Beauty of Joseon (iykyk).
I could keep going, but he’s sort of like the tennis equivalent of Glen Powell. He’s randomly now in everything all at once, and you’re not mad at it, but you’re also sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop?
Well, the other shoe dropped. I just hope it doesn’t drop at any point for Mr. Powell over there.
As ITIA announced that Sinner tested positive for a banned substance, they had the AUDACITY to say that he’s not being punished.
In their statement, ITIA claims that Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” in the two instances that he tested positive for the prohibited substance.
Okay SURE.
If that’s all they said, I’d be like fine, but they had the audacity to claim that the prohibited substance was accidentally sprayed on Sinner?????
Like:
“The player explained that the substance had entered their system as a result of contamination from a support team member, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray (available in Italy) containing clostebol to their own skin to treat a small wound. That support team member applied the spray between 5 and 13 March, during which time they also provided daily massages and sports therapy to Sinner, resulting in unknowing transdermal contamination.”
Here’s the thing: Sinner could obviously be telling the truth!
It could’ve been a mistake, but this is where things get fishy: Sinner tested positive for this banned substance back in March. It’s August.
Why are we just finding out about this?
Between March and August, Sinner kept playing tennis!
Interestingly, he withdrew from the Paris 2024 Olympics after contracting tonsillitis….I’ll let you think about that what you will.
ITIA could’ve easily nipped this in the bud back in March, but instead, they let this man continue to get paid to do his job and caused more swirl when they finally made the announcement this week.
Why? Well, like we discussed earlier, Sinner is a money grab for the sport. He’s been coined alongside Carlos Alcaraz as the “future of tennis.” He has fancy endorsement deals! He promotes F1! He goes to Gucci parties with Ryan Gosling!
Not to get all *conspiracy* and *allegedly* on you, but I can imagine in ITIA’s mind it does not help get more people to watch tennis if your no. 1 player in the world is suspended because of doping (whether he did it or not it’s not good PR).
I’m not the only one who thinks this.
Players like Nick Kyrgios (who should be held accountable for other, more serious accusations) and Denis Shapovalov have weighed in with their thoughts.
I can’t imagine we’ll hear from the other future face of tennis, Alcaraz, about this nonsense.
I just know he’s on a group text with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who are telling him to sit down and be quiet! Go swipe on Raya! Keep yourself occupied!
Sinner released a statement, of course.
I know a Canva template when I see one!
Will this be the end of this story? I sure know Big Tennis hopes that’s the case.
With the US Open underway and Sinner set to play, I imagine that the vibes will be…messy!
If anyone is headed to Flushing over the next few weeks and can give me an on-the-ground report, my DMs and email (theimpersonalfoul at gmail dot com) are always open.
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I’m a tennis player/fan (played in college) and it’s actually even messier than you think. They don’t claim that Sinner’s physio sprayed him; they claim the physio had a cut on his thumb, used this spray that contains a steroid that you can only get over the counter in Italy, and then massaged Sinner with his cut open, steroid sprayed finger over Sinner’s psoriasis???? And that they brought that spray conveniently from Italy to California, where the doping took place. Sinner was allowed to do media and travel to another big tournament while under an unpublished suspension and the appeal was accepted right as the tournament began. Other players wait months or years in suspension, rather than days, and often publicly.
Tennis association needs to be the same for all players