“I will now put this very challenging and hugely unfortunate period behind me.” Remember when Jannik Sinner uttered this phrase after the ruling on his doping controversy? His journey to the US Open has been anything but smooth. Despite his efforts to move past the issues with an optimistic outlook, the storm of backlash continues to loom over him. As he faces this challenging time, one can only imagine the player needs a bit of encouragement. Fortunately, his compatriot Matteo Berrettini has stepped up, offering the support Sinner desperately needs. 

Berrettini engaged in an interview with Sky Sports ahead of his campaign at the US Open, where will be taking over Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. Speaking in the interview, the Italian star expressed his confidence in Sinner and claimed that he is indeed innocent, as has been reflected in the ITIA rulings as well. 

Chatting in the interview, Berrettini reflected on the tough times that the World No. 1 is undergoing. “I saw something different in his eyes, maybe less joy than usual. It’s impressive how he’s handled it all, he’s achieved great results despite the situation.” The dominos started falling for Sinner back during his campaign at the Indian Wells. He tested positive twice for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol, which is a banned anabolic steroid. But Merrettini believes that it was a result of some mistake. 

Continuing further in the interview, the 28-year-old claimed to understand Sinner’s feelings by looking into his eyes. “Nobody would want to be in his position right now, I’ve known him since long time and I’m sure it’s been a mistake,” he said further. A similar judgment was made by the investigation agencies earlier. Berrettini’s statement comes at a time when even Carlos Alcaraz is not outrightly supportive of Sinner.

Speaking in the pre-tournament interview, Alcaraz opened up about the ongoing saga. Responding critically, he said, “Well, I believe in a clean sport. So I don’t know too much about that. You know, I am pretty sure that there are a lot of things that we don’t know, you know, inside the team or inside, you know, everything.”

However, the ruling of the probing agency was similar to what Berrettini believes. It was found that Sinner’s physio Giacomo Naldi had used an over-the-counter spray containing Clostebol to treat a cut on his own finger. Then, he treated Sinner without gloves, which eventually resulted in the passing of the substance to his body.

But Sinner will be allowed to play the US Open as an independent tribunal has ruled that the World No. 1 bears “no fault or negligence” in this situation. The investigation had been going on since March, but it came to light only after the independent tribunal let Jannik Sinner off. While it led to a huge furor with people like Nick Kyrgios, Liam Broady, and Denis Shapovalov claiming it to be a biased decision, Berrettini’s remark would indeed offer some relief to his Italian counterpart. However, Sinner’s anguish was highlighted by his coach as well. 

When Jannik Sinner’s coach opened up about the ‘difficult times’ 

Jannik Sinner had a stark clean record on the courts so far before the doping controversy came to light. But while the majority of tennis enthusiasts are against the star player, he is receiving some support from his teammates, and his coach, Darren Cahill, is no exception. 

On a recent appearance on ESPN, Cahill firmly stated, “Jannik would never do anything like that intentionally. It’s an unfortunate situation, but the truth came out.” Continuing further, he highlighted the troubles that Sinner faced due to the controversy. “You would have seen a big change in his physicality and excitement to be on the court, it wore him down physically and mentally, he got tonsillitis (and) missed the Olympics. We’re not looking for any sorrow. Just thankful there is no ban attached,” Cahill added.

As Sinner gears up to take over his opponents once again at the US Open, it would be interesting to see if he can keep his motivation intact and win big at the tournament, amid the ongoing controversy.