"I am looking at him thinking are you 23 years of age?": Coach Darren Cahill reveals interesting quote from Jannik Sinner which left him surprised

World number one Jannik Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, has revealed an interesting quote from the three-time Grand Slam winner after being criticised by fellow tennis players for being involved in a doping scandal.

The 23-year-old, who is regarded as the best player currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, has been in the news for the wrong reasons after testing positive for the banned substance clostebol in two doping tests in March last year.

The reigning world number one managed to escape any ban as The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) declared him innocent following a detailed hearing where his counsel claimed that the substance was available in the player’s sample because one member of the coaching staff had received a cream for the treatment of an injury.

Things turned ugly for the world number one in October last year when it was announced that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed against the ITIA’s verdict in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and demanded a two-year ban for the three-time Grand Slam winner. However, the issue finally came to a conclusion on Saturday as WADA announced that they had reached an agreement with Sinner, which will result in the player remaining out of action for three months.

The decision received widespread criticism from a lot of current players, including former world number one Novak Djokovic, who accused Sinner of getting favourable treatment. Sinner’s coach Cahill has been recently quoted in a report by The Tennis Gazette, in which he talked about how impressed he was with a quote from Sinner.

“This is what he loves doing, this is his purpose in life, to get up there and compete and play hard and enjoy himself so it has been remarkable,” said Cahill. “I think he gave me this quote, I didn’t tell him this quote, this is coming from a 23-year-old. Because we have been talking about all the noise, some from players, some from coaches, some from the media. Around his particular case. His is an involuntary contamination, so a lot of the times you return a positive test is from medicine or supplements. So it’s voluntary contamination. There is always a ban that applies to that, whether it’s one month or a little longer. His is involuntary and not only is it involuntary but it’s from a person who gave a spray to treat to physio for a cut finger and somehow that got pushed across to Jannik. But he said to me the other day, ‘Don’t concern yourself with the criticism of someone you wouldn’t take advice from.’ I am looking at him thinking are you 23 years of age? I know that’s a quote that is out there but to come from him, it’s like okay, let’s move on. He is a mature young man, he is a good young man and I know Italy is very proud of him and they should be.”