Balance in the court: Sinner's doping incident ignites discussion on fair play in tennis

Italy’s young tennis star Jannik Sinner has appreciated the comments of fellow countryman Matteo Berrettini, who publicly backed him after being involved in a doping scandal. The 23-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category along with Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

Sinner has recently been in the news for the wrong reasons. The world number one managed to narrowly escaped a ban despite testing positive for banned substance in two doping tests. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), in a detailed statement, explained that they have accepted the justification of Sinner who admitted that the banned substance in his sample was down to the mistake of one of his coaching staff.

Some current and former players criticized the ITIA's decision and asked for all players to be treated similarly. In the midst of all of that, Berrettini came out in public to show some support for Sinner in a statement released on several digital platforms.

“I complimented him [in the locker room],” he said. “No one would want to be in his shoes, but I know him well and I’m sure it was a mistake I saw something different in his eyes, maybe less joy than usual. When it all came out, I understood what was going on. It’s impressive how he handled the situation, he got great results despite everything. We talked in the locker room, just by looking into each other’s eyes, we understood how difficult it was to handle this situation.”

Sinner, who is currently in New York where he is taking part in the US Open, appreciated the support he received from his fellow countryman. The 23-year-old stated that not many would have done what Berrettini did in testing times for him.

“I am very happy with what Matteo said, we know each other well and we respect each other a lot,” he said. “We also know how we are as people, he showed me a lot of respect, it was a great honour. This situation taught me who is my friend and who is not, I understood how important sport is, but also life outside of tennis, that there are many things worse than what I experienced. On the court we [Sinner and his team] lost a few weeks of work – I was not ready to change something in my game, now we are working on it better than ever, hoping that everything goes well.”