Jannik Sinner has had an excellent season on the ATP Tour and is currently the world number one.
Sinner won the Australian Open earlier this year and added to his Grand Slam tally with the US Open in September.
He also added three Masters 1000 titles to his resume, with Sinner beating Novak Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters, the most recent success.
His success at the top of the ATP tour has also meant that he is guaranteed to end the year as world number one for the first time in his career.
It hasn’t all gone smoothly for the Italian however, as Sinner is under threat from a potential doping ban, after he was found with a minute amount of clostebol in his system.
The news has rocked the tennis world, and whilst some have come out in support of the 23-year-old, others are giving him the cold shoulder.
Jannik Sinner says he has found out who his real friends are during doping saga
Speaking to Sky Italia, Sinner spoke about how he felt when the news came to light.
“The real difficult moment was when the news came out,” he said.
“It came out in a very delicate phase because it was just before a Grand Slam [US Open]
“I had always wanted to train on Wednesday but the news came out on Tuesday and we decided it would be better not to.
“There would have been too much chaos at the club, so we went on Thursday evening because most people would have left.
“It was difficult to prepare for a Grand Slam like that.”
Whilst the initial response was hard, Sinner learned a lot about his fellow ATP players during the process.
“Perhaps this chance was precisely to understand who is your friend and who is not,” said Sinner.
“I understood that there were many players who I didn’t think were my friends, and there is a fairly large number who I thought were friends and instead they are not.”
Will Jannik Sinner be banned from tennis?
It remains to be seen what his fate will be as WADA recently confirmed their appeal against Sinner, and are looking for at least a one-year suspension for the Italian.
Legal processes such as these can take months if not years to resolve, and it’s impossible to tell whether or not Sinner will receive a suspension from the ATP Tour.
| Name | Year | Substance | Length of ban |
| Martina Hingis | 2007 | Benzoylecgonine | Two years |
| Richard Gasquet | 2009 | Cocaine | Six weeks |
| Marin Cilic | 2013 | Nikethamide | Four months |
| Barbora Strycova | 2013 | Sibutramine | Six months |
| Maria Sharapova | 2016 | Meldonium | 15 months |
| Simona Halep | 2022 | Roxadustat | Nine months |
Andy Roddick said that he wouldn’t disagree with a ban for Sinner, whilst others are slightly more lenient towards the 23-year-old.
Novak Djokovic argued Sinner has been treated poorly during his doping case, and that he understands that the situation must be tough for him and his family.
Only time will tell if the world number one will face a ban from competing or not.
Sinner is set to return to action at the Paris Masters, which begins on the 29th of October.
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