Jannik Sinner gets his US Open campaign underway later today, and will have to put aside all unrest to stand a chance at the title.
Going into the event, many favoured him to repeat his Australian Open heroics, but since then the drama surrounding the Italian has been unrelenting.
Drug scandals and successful appeals have had the whole tennis world talking about the 23-year-old, and not for the right reasons.
John McEnroe is the latest to offer his verdict on this saga, refreshingly seeking to defend Jannik Sinner after the firestorm of a week he has endured.
John McEnroe reacts to Jannik Sinner’s case
Chatting to ESPN after Novak Djokovic’s first-round win at the US Open, McEnroe emerged to give his thoughts on the tournament, and the numerous narratives swirling around the New York competition.
Having participated in the pre-tournament Fan Week to great fanfare, his comments in this particular interview were far from easygoing and relaxed, as he gave his verdict on the controversy surrounding Jannik Sinner’s case.
Calling for a major rule change within tennis because of it, the American stated: ‘I hate the fact that it takes six months before it comes out. Like why in the hell doesn’t it come out right away and someone determines what took place?
‘This guy doesn’t look exactly like Hulk Hogan! The last guy I would have thought would have been tested positive for some sort of steroid is Sinner!
‘He has been dealing with this for six months. It just seems like we have got to do better than that in our sport.
‘In the NFL for example people test positive for a month, I believe that’s the case, you can be out for four years in tennis. It’s got tough testing. I’m surprised that after they determined that it was an accident it’s been like okay no problem, but why would he lose his points at the tournament he played then? It makes no sense. It’s a somewhat typically confusing statement from everyone in tennis, this is why our sport could do a lot better if the players were more involved.’
Could Jannik Sinner win the US Open?
Kickstarting his US Open campaign later today, this will mark his first match ever since all the drama emerged regarding his cleared verdict after Sinner tested positive for the steroid clostebol.
It will be far from easy to just shrug off this controversy though, which has wholly dominated the narrative in the run-up to the tournament.
The McEnroe interview is just the latest high-profile figure to weigh in on the matter.
First facing American Mackenzie McDonald, the world number one is expected to cruise into the second round, but as he wades through the competition, scrutiny will only increase.
If he can handle all this outside noise then he is a huge favourite to win the whole thing. However, he would be forgiven for crumbling under such intense pressure.
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