Jannik Sinner still does not know his fate regarding the doping case. The world number 1 thought that this ugly story had ended in August, when ITIA had acknowledged his full innocence shortly before the start of the US Open.
The previous months had been very stressful for the Italian ace, who had spent several sleepless nights and had an illness on the eve of his match against Daniil Medvedev at the Wimbledon Championships.
When WADA announced that it had appealed against the acquittal, everyone was speechless and Jannik himself could not hide his disappointment. The trial before the CAS in Lausanne will not take place before February 11, 2025, which is why Sinner will have to defend his title at the Australian Open without knowing his future yet.
Jannik Sinner, Miami Masters 2024© Stream screenshot
If found guilty, the 2-time Grand Slam champion will suffer a ban of 12 to 24 months which could be very heavy on his image. Although WADA director Olivier Niggli has hypothesized some changes regarding cases of minimal contamination (also due to the positivity of Iga Swiatek), Sinner risks suffering a sanction that is far too heavy.
In his last press conferences in 2024, the world No. 1 said that he will cooperate with the authorities as he has done in recent months and that he hopes the situation will be resolved in the best possible way.
Sinner’s schedule in December
After a short period of rest, the Italian ace will leave for Dubai in the coming days and will start training for 2025. This year, Jannik has chosen the United Arab Emirates for his preparation and will be followed by Simone Vagnozzi, Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio. Darren Cahill – on the other hand – will only join the team in Australia.
The 2-time Grand Slam champion will return to Italy for the Christmas holidays and will not play any official tournament before the 2025 Australian Open. According to media reports in the last few hours, the 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria will play some exhibition matches the week before the Happy Slam with other top players. Sinner will stay in Dubai from 9 to 24 December and will practice hard especially from a physical point of view, since the AO are a very demanding tournament due to the sultry weather and best-of-five set matches.
On Sunday 8th December, the world number 1 is expected to be present at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last event on the 2024 Formula 1 calendar.
The Italian champion wants to achieve even better results in 2025, but he is aware that the ruling of the CAS in Lausanne could affect his schedule next year.
“I had some ups and downs in recent years, and whoever know me I was emotionally a bit down and a bit also heartbroken, no, but sometimes life gives you difficulties and you just have to stand for it” – Sinner revealed in a recent interview before the end of the season.
He continued: “This is also, you know, with I think from outside it’s always very, very difficult to say if someone has a problem or not, because we always try to compete in the best possible way we are, but I’m not concerned. I will work with them as I did the three previous times, and then we see what’s coming out, no? Whatever I can control, I can control. And then we see.
Now, for sure, it’s a bit of time off, which is gonna be good for all of us. You know, it was a very long season.
We were just joking around that not even in one month we restart again if you want to play tournaments straightaway. So you have to also enjoy a little bit of the time off, if you can, surround yourself with good people, and that’s it.”
A new dimension
Without the doping case, Jannik’s 2024 would have been truly perfect. The Italian’s numbers this season have been sensational and have projected him into a new dimension.
Jannik Sinner, ATP Finals 2024© Stream screenshot
The 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria has become the player to beat in all tournaments and no one seems to be keeping up with his pace, with the exception of Carlitos Alcaraz. However, the Spaniard does not have the same consistency as the Italian during the year and this explains the gap of almost 5000 points between these two players.
The 2-time Grand Slam champion could really start a new era and it would be a shame if this doping case damaged his career. Almost everyone understood that his contamination was totally involuntary and that he had no advantages from a sporting point of view. The hope is that the CAS in Lausanne will make the most rational decision.
Tennis World USA