Jasmine Paolini and Maria Sakkari say what has changed about men’s tennis since Jannik Sinner was banned

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Jannik Sinner has nearly completed two months of his three month ban that began back in February.

Sinner was banned on February 9, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) settling their appeal after agreeing on three months.

There have been a lot of conflicting opinions on this topic, with Nick Kyrgios very outspoken against Sinner during this time.

However, not everyone has been against the Italian, with Jack Draper supporting Sinner since his absence.

Jasmine Paolini and Maria Sakkari say what has changed since Jannik Sinner’s ban

Sinner’s last tournament was the Australian Open, where he defended his title after beating Alexander Zverev in the final.

Since then there have been some more surprising title winners on the ATP Tour, including teenager Jakub Mensik winning the Miami Open.

When discussing the expectations of being a top ranked player prior to the Miami Open, former world number three Maria Sakkari and two-time major finalist Jasmine Paolini claimed that they have started to notice more similarities between the ATP and WTA Tours.

Paolini in particular attributed this to her compatriot Sinner being banned, as well as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal now being retired.

“To me it doesn’t really matter about the number one seed, second seed and third seed,” Sakkari said on the Tennis Insider Club. “Especially women’s tennis is very unexpected as we all know. You always have results that you wouldn’t expect, probably on the men’s draw even though now I think it’s [more even].

Paolini responded, “Now it is quite the same. Maybe because now Jannik is not playing. But without [Novak] Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.

Sakkari added, “It is a little bit getting like the women’s tour, but I just feel like the pressure is always there if you feel like you are one of the best players of the draw.

“You are always going to feel the pressure that you want to go deep and do well but there is so many factors, like the draw and everything else, that you cannot control. The only thing you can control is how you have to think on the court, what is best for me to do and how I can prepare better. You then take it from there, one match at a time. It sounds simple, it is very complicated!”

How have the top 10 ATP players fared since Jannik Sinner’s ban?

Despite being banned, Sinner is still the clear number one after his rivals have stuttered in his absence.

Of those in the ATP top 10, world number two Alexander Zverev has particularly struggled and has the lowest win percentage since losing the Australian Open final.

Carlos Alcaraz has also had his problems, despite winning the Qatar Open, after losing his only match at in Miami.

The most successful top 10 player in Sinner’s absence has been the aforementioned Draper, who won Indian Wells to achieve his career-high ranking.

Attention will now turn to the clay court season, where Sinner will return to action at the Italian Open.

That will not be his only tournament prior to Roland Garros, with Sinner also playing in Hamburg prior to the clay court major.