Sinner's doping controversy: behind-the-scenes with coach Vagnozzi

Italy’s tennis star Jannik Sinner's coach, Simone Vagnozzi, has opened up about how difficult it was for him and his team members to cope with the situation during the 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 been in the news recently for the wrong reasons. He narrowly managed to escape a ban after testing positive in two doping tests. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), in a detailed statement, announced that they accepted the player’s counsel’s response, which claimed that the banned substance was available in the player’s sample because he received a cream from one of his coach staff to overcome an injury.

That decision and explanation, however, received serious backlash from fans and some current and former players who demanded similar treatment for all players involved in such scandals. Sinner’s coach, Vagnozzi, was recently quoted in a report explaining how difficult it was for him and the other members of the coaching staff to deal with that situation. He also explained that he and the other coaches tried to ensure that Sinner stayed in the best possible mindset.

"It was a complicated situation,” he said while talking to Italian sports media outlet Corriere dello Sport. “We couldn't talk about it with anyone outside the team, it was a first for everyone. Darren (Cahill, the other coach) and I had to understand the moments, trying to help him when possible. If you usually think two or three times before expressing a concept, in those months it was necessary to do it even ten times. We tried to make him live it as best as possible, with fewer negative thoughts in his head. In those complicated months we tried to do our part.”