Jannik Sinner’s season has truly been a rollercoaster of highs and lows! The Italian star has lit up the courts, capturing an impressive seven titles—including two Grand Slams that have cemented his place as one of the sport’s rising giants. But off-court, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. His ongoing doping controversy has cast a shadow, with rumors swirling and the saga refusing to settle down anytime soon. Through it all, though, Sinner has seen a wave of support from the tennis world, and now the head of the Italian Tennis Federation, Angelo Binaghi, has stepped in to back him as well. 

Binaghi engaged in an interaction with The Associated Press and deliberated on several aspects related to the sport. When quizzed about his take on Sinner, the Italian Tennis Federation boss took a sharp dig at the critics of the Italian dynamo and called them “imbeciles.” He expressed complete support for the World No. 1 and shared that he is one of the cleanest sportspeople on the ATP circuit. 

Speaking in the interview, Binaghi said, “Apart from a few imbeciles, people all around the world understand what happened. No matter what type of decision is issued, there’s no doubt that Sinner is one of the cleanest and most honest athletes in world sport.” Remember, Sinner’s struggles started after he tested positive twice for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol during Indian Wells. While the ruling of the ITIA Tribunal went in his favor, which ruled that Sinner did not have an intentional role to play, the star player has witnessed immense criticism from many in the tennis community. 

It was revealed that the substance was passed on Sinner’s body by his former physio Giacomo Naldi who used a spray containing the substance to treat a cut on his own finger. And since he treated Sinner without gloves, the substance eventually passed on to Sinner’s body. However, this claim was not admitted by many leading to widespread furor and demands for a ban against the star player. Eventually, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) took cognizance of the issue and filed an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and a final decision is still pending on the matter. Interestingly, Binaghi is not the first person to have expressed his support for Sinner. 

Earlier, former tennis pro Mark Petchey expressed similar support for Sinner and said, “Just for the record there is ZERO scandal in the Sinner case. He and his lawyers worked within the framework of what the rules are in the situation he found himself and got a decision based on the evidence presented. No conspiracy, no cover up.” Meanwhile, Sinner has continued to remain stoic despite the toll that the entire case has taken on him.

When Jannik Sinner brushed off concerns about doping saga

Jannik Sinner has demonstrated to the world that he is a picture of resilience. Despite facing immense issues, he has managed to keep his composure intact and that has been witnessed in the results as well. Remember, the controversy started gaining weight soon before the US Open this year and interestingly, Sinner has played three tournaments since then. But what fascinates the tennis world more is the fact that he has won two of these three tournaments, besides emerging the runner-up in the third. And now at the ATP Finals in Turin, Sinner yet again highlighted a stoic attitude. 

When quizzed about his doping issue ahead of the ATP Finals, Sinner revealed that there has not been any clarifications yet. “Wada? We don’t know anything yet, I’ve already been in this position three times this year. It’s all been going very well so far.” However, he was quick to share that despite portraying an optimistic outlook, “playing with this situation is not optimal.” “We are living a wonderful moment and I have achieved excellent results this year,” he added further,” Sinner further added. 

For now, it would be interesting to see if more people would join in the fray to voice similar support for Sinner. Will Jannik Sinner be out of the controversy soon? Well, that remains to be seen.