Important events
Although Sinner has said that he did not receive preferential treatment, many disagree. Novak Djokovic can “understand” that. The Serb has called for a change in anti-doping rules following the recent case against Sinner.
We see a lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand the feelings of many players who wonder if they are being treated the same. Hopefully the governing bodies of our sport can learn from this case and come up with a better approach for the future. Collectively, something needs to change, and I think that is clear.
Many players – without naming any [as] I’m sure you already know who – who has had similar or very similar cases, where they didn’t have the same outcome. And now the question is whether it’s a question of money, whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then represent their case more efficiently. I don’t know. Is that the case or not? That’s something that I really think we need to collectively explore further.
Carlos Alcaraz reacted cautiously when asked about his rival’s positive test:
In the end they found him innocent and he’s in the tournament. I don’t think there’s much more to discuss and I certainly don’t have much to say. It’s something that’s being talked about [in the locker room].
As mentioned, Sinmaker is the word on everyone’s lips. The Italian has had an explosive year: in January he won his first Grand Slam in Melbourne and at Roland Garros he became number one in the world.
The Italian was in the media for the first time since the results were announced in New York last week. While the moderator tried to block questions on the subject after only one was asked, Sinner seemed prepared to respond to all questions at length and was fully engaged with his questioners.
I’ve been playing with this in my head for months, but just [reminding] myself that I actually did nothing wrong. I always respect these rules, and I will always respect these rules of anti-doping. Just a relief for myself that I have this result.
Every player who tests positive has to go through the same process. There is no shortcut, there is no other treatment, it is all the same process.
Sinner starts his US Open campaign against American Mackenzie McDonald, who is ranked 119th in the world.
Preamble
Hello everyone and welcome to our very first blog about the 2024 US Open.
The build-up to this tournament was largely dominated by Jannik Sinner. The world number 1 had tested positive twice for traces of the banned substance clostebol in anti-doping test samples taken in March. But an independent court had subsequently ruled that Sinner was not to blame for the failed tests. This news was all kept secret until he was acquitted, a day after winning his second Masters 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open.
Today we have reigning champion Coco Gauff, Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen and Britain’s Harriet Dart all in action
In the men’s event, American favorite and last year’s semi-finalist Ben Shelton, 2022 finalist Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev will play their first round matches today.
Join me for all the news and action from Flushing Meadows. If you have any thoughts, concerns, questions, musings, predictions or hopes and dreams you would like to share, please email me. You can find the information at the top of this blog.