“There was sleepless nights” - Jannik Sinner admits struggling during ‘no fault’ doping saga as he looks to turn pages at US Open 2024

Jannik Sinner admitted to having sleepless nights during his 'no fault' doping saga and also how he lost the joy of playing tennis during the process. The Italian said that he was trying to slowly move on from this ordeal but knew that he would need some time.

Sinner tested positive for Clostebol, a banned drug, during the Indian Wells Masters this year. However, after ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) conducted an investigation, they deemed that the amount found in the Italian's body couldn't enhance his performance and he was cleared to play.

The World No. 1 argued that the substance was transferred during a bare-handed massage given to him by his ex-physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi, who used a healing spray (containing Clostebol) for a cut on his finger.

"We are encouraged that no fault or negligence has been found on Jannik Sinner’s part," the ATP said in their statement.

However, this news sent shockwaves throughout the tennis world and Sinner and his team bore the brunt of the tennis fraternity's anger, who felt that the Italian and his team were let off leniently, while other players had to face serious repercussions in similar situations.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Jannik Sinner admitted that the controversy had affected him a lot, leading to sleepless nights, and also added how his hip injury troubles increased his struggles further.

"It has impact quite a lot because I was ill, I was not feeling so much energy on the court. I think you saw this in Wimbledon for example," he said. (at 6:51)

"There was sleepless nights sometimes, because thinking of this, there were some physical issues, maybe because of that, the first issue came because of the hip in Monaco exactly when it came out."

The 23-year-old said that he wasn't feeling joy on the court during the proceedings but hoped to move on from the incident. He admitted that it would take some time to get over it.

"So there has been some very tough moments throughout this whole process. I felt different on the court, I was not happy, I was not myself on the court, but now hopefully I can turn pages. I'm not saying that I'm doing it right now because it takes still a little bit of time, but I just want to be back happy on court and enjoying and sharing great moments with the crowd."

"I haven't done anything wrong" - Jannik Sinner looks forward to competing in a 'normal' way, admits to having low expectations in every tournament he goes

Jannik Sinner (Image Source: Getty)

Jannik Sinner admitted that he has low expectations heading into every tournament he competes in due to everything that has been going on in his career. He reiterated that he knew he hadn't done anything wrong and was giving his best in every match. The Italian hoped for things to come back to normal as he looked to grow as a person from this ordeal.

"As I said before, knowing that I haven't done anything wrong, very low expectations in every tournament I go, and I have the same here, low expectations because of everything I am going through."

"And still trying my best, trying to fight, trying to run for every ball and accepting also this kind of things, which hopefully can make me grow from now on and looking forward to compete again in a… let's say normal way."

Jannik Sinner will kick off his US Open campaign against Mackenzie McDonald, with the former boasting a 3-0 lead in their head-to-head.