"They want to just protect themselves from a PR disaster" - Andrea Petkovic on why Jannik Sinner and his coaches were snubbed by ATP Awards
ATPThursday, 28 November 2024 at 10:17
Several fans were left shocked when World No.1 Jannik Sinner and his coaches did not receive any nominations at the season-ending ATP Awards, leading former German star Andrea Petkovic to speculate on the reasoning behind this decision.
The ATP recently announced the nominees for the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and the Coach of the Year Award. The first category includes Carlos Alcaraz, Grigor Dimitrov, Casper Ruud and Dominic Thiem. However, the coach category notably did not include Darren Cahill, who coached Sinner to two Grand Slam titles and the World No.1 ranking this season.
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Petkovic stunned by decision
The retired WTA star made an appearance on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, where she and host Rennae Stubbs expressed their opinion on why Cahill or Simone Vagnozzi, who also coaches Sinner, did not receive a nomination.
"Coach of the Year nominees, Xavier Malisse from Alexei Popyrin, Emmanuel Planque from Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Michael Russell from Taylor Fritz, Brad Stine from Tommy Paul, James Trotman Jack Draper… No Darren Cahill," Petkovic said.
"Or the Italian guy," Stubbs remarked.
"Or yeah, Simone Vagnozzi," Petkovic added.
"That’s pretty crazy," Stubbs noted.
"Or the Italian guy," Stubbs remarked.
"Or yeah, Simone Vagnozzi," Petkovic added.
"That’s pretty crazy," Stubbs noted.
Petkovic would go on to speculate that the ATP possibly left Sinner's coaches off the list due to the Italian's ongoing doping allegations stemming from an incident that occurred in Indian Wells in March.
"It’s because if he [Jannik Sinner] gets banned, they don’t want him to be on the list," Petkovic said.
"Also because we haven’t had that final say from WADA," Stubbs chimed in.
"I think they’re basically, I don’t know if protecting is the right word, but let’s say just protecting themselves from a situation that he has the Sportsmanship award and Darren has the Coach of the Year award and then he gets banned for a couple of months," the German continued.
"Listen, if you’re gonna let him play and you’re gonna allow Darren to coach, then why are you leaving them off that list? That’s ridiculous. I mean I can see it in a weird way but not really," added Stubbs.
"I think it’s just self-protection. They don’t want to have to explain anything... They want to just protect themselves from a PR disaster that the guy that has Sportsmanship award gets banned for doping," concluded Petkovic.
"Also because we haven’t had that final say from WADA," Stubbs chimed in.
"I think they’re basically, I don’t know if protecting is the right word, but let’s say just protecting themselves from a situation that he has the Sportsmanship award and Darren has the Coach of the Year award and then he gets banned for a couple of months," the German continued.
"Listen, if you’re gonna let him play and you’re gonna allow Darren to coach, then why are you leaving them off that list? That’s ridiculous. I mean I can see it in a weird way but not really," added Stubbs.
"I think it’s just self-protection. They don’t want to have to explain anything... They want to just protect themselves from a PR disaster that the guy that has Sportsmanship award gets banned for doping," concluded Petkovic.
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