Sinner, what a blow: it happened at the worst time.
He talked to them about everything a little bit. About the progress made in recent times, the relationship with his coach, even good resolutions for the future, including those related to the “management” of affections. Chatting with reporters from Esquire Australia, in short, Jannik Sinner opened up as never, perhaps, had he done before.
This is demonstrated by the way, sincere and spontaneous, in which, at one point, he addressed the most sensitive issue of all. Because it was inevitable that, in the context of such a wide-ranging interview, he would be asked to rewind the tape and talk about, among other things, the very black period when he discovered he had tested positive for doping. A wound that still has not healed because the issue, as is well known, is far from closed, with the Wada that will have to rule on the case and determine, therefore, whether or not the Italian “deserves” a disqualification.
The words Sinner chose to address this issue say well how much the champion has suffered and how hard, above all, it has been to bear the weight of such news. Not least because Jannik found out that there was an ongoing investigation into him long before the rest of the world learned about it. Which, for obvious reasons, made the situation even heavier.
Sinner alone against everyone
“It was a tough time,” is how Sinner responded to Esquire’s questions regarding the Clostebol affair, “I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I couldn’t vent or ask for help. 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 these things are complex. “
“Everyone told the truth right away and that allowed me to play,” he added, “But at Wimbledon I was white. And even after that, my feeling toward people was fear. I went to practice at the Cincinnati clubhouse and thought, ‘How are they looking at me? What do they really think of me?’ I realized who my real friends are,” he told the Australian magazine.
Fortunately, something good happened as well, over the course of this 2024. “I’ve grown so much this year, both mentally and physically. The results you see now are not sudden. They are the result of the hard work we have done over the past two years. I am the son of a chef and I know that you don’t start cooking a good dish in a few minutes. You study, you understand, you try and try again, then the final dish will be good. “