Jannik Sinner parted ways with his physical trainer and his physiotherapist after the doping saga, and he admitted that he's searching for their replacement, which will be difficult in the middle of the season.
Sinner has been playing amazing tennis at the 2024 US Open so far. The level in both of his matches has been tremendous, and what's even more impressive is that he didn't start either match that great.
He raised his level mid-match, which is always impressive to observe. Unfortunately, his tennis is not the topic of most discussions featuring his name. It's the doping saga, which became public knowledge fairly recently.
Sinner tested positive for a banned substance, clostebol, back in March but was allowed to compete in spite of that, as his explanation was found to be probable enough.
What most had a problem with is that all of that was kept silent until an investigation fully cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing, which happened recently. Since then, it's been a tumultuous time for the Italian, with the media breathing down his neck.
He also saw some fans turning their backs on him, even though the majority of them have come out in support. It's been a tricky situation so far, but the most important thing for him is that his tennis hasn't suffered.
He's been playing at a high level at the US Open, and his chances increased after Carlos Alcaraz crashed out. On the tennis side, Sinner's team is missing a few people right now because he parted ways with his physical trainer, Umberto Ferrara, and physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, after the doping saga.
It came down to trust issues after he was accidentally contaminated by members of his team. That's the crucial detail that allowed him to compete all these months.
He quickly tracked down the substance and the way it got into his system, which generally isn't the case when it comes to these doping cases.
Having a depleted team is not a long-term option because Sinner is missing crucial members. Asked whether he was searching for new team members, the 23-year-old confirmed that he is.
"Yeah, of course, it was a strange moment, no? Obviously I don't want to talk about this at the moment. We are trying to understand who would be the best option now."
"Not easy obviously to find now in the middle of the season, you know, the physical trainer and the physio. We try our best to find the best people, and then we see. After US Open hopefully I have something. Yeah, so let's see."
For now, Sinner is mostly focused on playing good tennis and giving himself a chance to win matches. If he does that a couple of more times, he might walk away with his second Grand Slam trophy.
That's the goal, but Sinner will have to deal with these personnel deficits once the US Open passes. He can't finish the season without those roles filled because there is still plenty of tennis to be played.
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