"People saw me in different ways" - Jannik Sinner breaks silence on his reaction to controversial doping ban

World No.1 Jannik Sinner began his quest for his first Wimbledon title on Tuesday, and subsequently took some time to discuss his mindset during his period of suspension for doping violations.

The Italian faced compatriot Luca Nardi in the first round at SW19, recording a comprehensive 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory. Sinner was dominant in his win, not facing a break point while converting on five of his 13 break point opportunities.

The 23-year old was banned for three months earlier this year after testing positive for Clostebol, a prohibited substance. Although Sinner served his suspension, the World No.1 stated he received mixed reactions from fans and fellow players during his time away from tennis.

"I think people kind of have forgotten already a little bit what happened," began Sinner during his post-match press conference. "Of course, there are still things, but so many things, new notifications, whatever, coming. That's the good and the bad of social [media] that something happens and people don't know anymore what happened yesterday. In the other way, I have good relationships with more or less all [of the] players like I had before.
"Of course, in the beginning it was a bit different. People saw me in different ways. But I think they all saw that I'm a very clean player. I was never with intention to do anything bad. I always try to be the best I can, having a good team around me. That's exactly what I try to do in the future, no?
"The things I can control, I will control, as I always say, also on the court and off the court. It was an incident, yes, it happened. But yeah, the result also says that I haven't done anything on purpose."

Sinner did not appear to miss a beat during his time off, as he returned to the ATP Tour in May. The San Candido native competed in front of his home crowd at the Rome Open, his first tournament back. Sinner would lose to rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final, and would suffer another loss to the Spaniard in an epic five-set marathon match at the French Open a few weeks later.

"For sure last month was not easy at times," admitted the Italian. "But in the other way, it was beautiful, you know? So many things happened. Never thought that I would play a final of a Grand Slam like this.
"Yeah, so all positive things, to be honest. Now I'm here. I'm here to show also myself that I'm capable to play tennis also on grass hopefully. I showed it last year. I felt like I have improved a lot on this surface. So let's see what I can do this year."