Before the US Open, the doping controversy of Jannik Sinner divided the tennis world. The World Number 1 tested positive for a banned substance, Clostebol, but avoided a punishment after providing a satisfactory explanation of how he came in contact with it. Sinner’s physio had applied a spray on him, which contained that banned substance.

Thus, the Italian star was only let off with points and prize money deduction from the Indian Wells tournament, where he tested positive. However, this left the tennis world divided and when Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, supported him in this matter, he faced the wrath of the fans.

After Jannik Sinner captured his maiden US Open title, Cahill was all praise for him and lauded him for coming back stronger from the doping controversy. He said, “The last 3/4 weeks, and the last 4 months, a lot of what has been going on in the team has been on my shoulders… So, whatever happens, he should hold his head high because he has done nothing wrong, and let’s go about seeing what we can do with his team during this period. It wasn’t without a lot of stress, there was a lot of stress. Even before the final I told him that the way he has behaved in the last few weeks has shown honesty and resilience, he must be very proud of himself.”

Despite Sinner’s brilliant US Open victory, a section of tennis fans aren’t happy with how he was let off after testing positive for a banned substance. As a result, they vent their frustration at Cahill after he took responsibility for this matter.

Fans lash out at Jannik Sinner’s coach for doping controversy stance

A couple of days back, Sinner went on to defeat Taylor Fritz in the summit clash of the US Open. A huge part of his success has been the influence of Cahill, who has been with Sinner since July 2022. After Sinner prevailed at the US Open, Cahill took the onus on him for the doping mess and praised Sinner for maintaining his focus in the major tournament. However, one fan thought that Cahill’s words were all scripted and slammed him by commenting, “It’s so easy to script sentences afterwards. Anybody can say that. It’s nonsense.”

Although Cahill took the responsibility, he didn’t mention anything about Clostebol, the substance for which Sinner tested positive. As a result, a section of fans wondered if Cahill really meant what he was saying. One of the fans asked, “Did he say anything about the Clostebol?” Going by Cahill’s apology, a section of fans thought that he was trying to play the victim card for Sinner. However, one Twitter user sarcastically hit back by asking, “So now they are all victims? Oh boy…”

Meanwhile, it isn’t the first time that a player coached by Cahill failed a drug test. A couple of years back, former World Number 1, Simona Halep, tested positive and was banned from the sport for nine months. One of the fans found a correlation from this incident and asked, “Why do people being coached by Darren fail drug test? Halep, now Sinner????” While Cahill presented this apology, he was emotional with how things panned out for Sinner. However, one fan failed to find any innocence in this and said, “He was emotional because not only did the doping work but they got away with it.”

Despite the controversy surrounding Sinner, he proved his critics wrong with a scintillating performance in New York. It’ll be interesting to see if he can carry this form and finish off the season on a high.