Serena Williams' former coach, Rennae Stubbs, thinks Jannik Sinner will be scrutinized more than other players for the rest of his career after he tested positive for a banned substance.
The tennis world is still reeling from the news of Sinner testing positive for the banned substance clostebol on two separate occasions at the Indian Wells Open. He reached the semifinal of that event.
Although Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing and did not receive a suspension, he lost his ranking points and prize money from the tournament in Indian Wells, reducing his lead as the world's No. 1.
After a five-month investigation, tennis authorities accepted Sinner's explanation that the substance entered his system from his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi, who was using an over-the-counter spray that contained clostebol.
Some players and fans are angry that the investigation was conducted privately and that Sinner was allowed to continue competing for five months even though his innocence had not been proven.
Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios were among the enraged players who reacted to the case. Shapovalov said he felt sorry for other accused players whose cases were made public, while Kyrgios argued the Italian should be banned for two years.
However, others were more supportive of the Australian Open champion. Andy Murray's former coach, Mark Petchey, defended the case's handling and said Sinner and his team's response to the positive test was reasonable and within the rules.
Stubbs also believes Sinner did not get any favorable treatment from the authorities. She pointed to the investigations of Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova as examples of investigators not favoring big names in the sport.
"It goes through a very, very tight investigation. It's not like they are like, 'Well, we like him. Let's just let him keep playing.' That's not how it works. We have seen that with players in the past. Very well known players: Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep."
"I mean, these are enormously popular tennis players. So, it's not like they are giving him a free pass. This has happened in the past with many, many players."
The Australian thinks it is right to believe the investigation was done thoroughly and correctly. She sees no reason to believe anything in the process was done favorably to Sinner or unfairly to other players.
"But at the same time, he would have under full investigation for this and they have cleared him. They have found that the things that he talked about and his physio talked about, explaining why it happened, they believe. So, we have to believe that the investigation was done thoroughly, and that's why now he has been cleared of it,"
Although Stubbs trusts Sinner and the process that cleared him, she also thinks this story will not fade into the background. Serena Williams' former coach says the Italian will be scrutinized, rightly or wrongly, for the rest of his career because of the case.
"He [Jannik Sinner] will be scrutinized now for the rest of his career sadly, because of this, what happened."
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