Jannik Sinner is in the headlines ahead of the 2024 US Open. The 23-year-old Italian tennis star will start his campaign at the last major tournament of the 2024 season on August 27. However, despite being handed a tough draw where he could face Daniil Medvedev in the QF and Carlos Alcaraz in the SF, the tennis world finds more interest in the Italian’s recent doping controversy. Sinner was proven innocent after he tested positive for a banned substance in March this year. However, it’s not over yet, as many people are suspecting “preferential treatment” in this case.

At first, we heard Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill say that every case in the tennis world is handled with neutrality. Then a few moments later, he boasted an unfair advantage saying, “The one I will say though is, it makes it a little bit easier for someone that’s highly ranked because you can afford to fight this case properly and fairly whereas I think a player ranked 300 or 500 or 1,000 in the world if they get into this situation they don’t have the funds.” Cahill elaborated on how Jannik Sinner had to hire “three experts” to prove his side of the story.

Now, the former WTA tennis star, Christina McHale has come up with her own point of view during a recent episode of the Tennis Channel-In. “The whole situation is unfortunate. I understand why players are bringing up that question like why it was kept secret and he was allowed to keep playing. It’s just normally, I think when the tribunal decided, you’re not supposed to know like who the person they’re analyzing in the situation. I’d imagine that was the case here. So there shouldn’t be any preferential treatment,” McHale said.

Several minds have come up with multiple opinions, but for Sinner, it has been a  “challenging” and “unfortunate” situation. Cahill backed his player, showing his full support, saying Sinner is “honest to the core” and is an “innocent victim“. However, due to this incident, as per the reports, the Italian star will now have to give away $325,000 which he won as prize money at the Indian Wells, and also relinquish 400 ranking points. What do other superstars of the tennis world have to say about the whole incident?

“I do think that they protect the top players” – American tennis legend speaks up on the Jannik Sinner saga

The tennis world saw what happened with Simona Halep when she tested positive for Roxadustat a few years ago. It’s quite obvious for the commoners to relate previous incidents with the Jannik Sinner incident. Although Cahill gave his clarification by citing the difference in both cases, there are still a few individuals who have raised eyebrows.

Chris Evert recently stated, “I do think that they protect the top players. So by protecting I mean: they’re going to keep it secret for a couple of months. They’re going to keep certain things secret if you’re a top player because they don’t want the press, the players don’t want the press.” 

The Aussie tennis star, Nick Kyrgios also called it “Ridiculous-whether it was accidental or planned.” He felt if someone was tested twice with a banned substance, then he should be “gone for 2 years.” The Canadian player Denis Shapovalov highlighted, “Different rules for different players.”

So, there are still a lot of question marks surrounding this incident. However, Sinner would love to answer them all with the racquet in his hand at the upcoming 2024 US Open.