Daniil Medvedev was asked to share his opinion on Jannik Sinner's recent doping case, and the Russian echoed Taylor Fritz's sentiments, finding nothing wrong with it.
A few days ago, Fritz was asked about the World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour and his doping saga. The American said that he found Sinner's case to be believable.
He didn't see a reason not to believe Sinner and his story because it didn't make any sense for him to dope—he was already that good. However, he called into question how the case was handled.
Medvedev echoed similar sentiments when he was finally asked about the matter during his press conference. It was a winning start for the Russian player at the 2024 US Open, so he was in a good mood for questions.
The former World No. 1 player said that he hoped the situation would have been similar if any other players had gone through that. There were noticeable calls of preferential treatment from fans, but those were debunked.
Still, in practice, we won't know if the situation will be the same until something like this happens again. Medvedev surely hopes that it would because that's what would make the process feel valid.
"I just say that I hope this situation can be the same for every player – like every player can defend himself. Because I think what he (Jannik Sinner) did was within the rules. It’s just that the rules are a little bit vague."
Novak Djokovic made a similar statement, explaining that the whole process needs to be clearly defined and, more importantly, followed. What happened to Sinner actually scares Medvedev. He's not a player who would ever dope, but as we saw, positive tests can still turn up.
"For me the only thing where doping cases make me scared is – so he (Jannik Sinner) knew what happened and good for him, he managed to defend himself."
The Russian was happy to see that Sinner was able to prove his innocence because if he hadn't, it would have been terrible for the Italian's tennis career. He would have lost two years for something that happened by accident.
"Imagine, whatever tennis player in the top 100 gets an email and they say, ‘Look, there was cocaine in your blood.’ And you (the player) come to them (the authorities) and you say, ‘Well, I never did anything in my life. I don’t know how did it get there.’ And when you don’t know, you get suspended."
"That’s a little bit tricky part. But that’s how, yeah, doping rules are. It’s okay, you go with it. As I said, I hope it’s the same treatment for every player."
It's what convinced Andy Roddick to see things similarly. The former American tennis player used to think that any positive test warranted a suspension but changed his mind when he heard of a story where many players were contaminated through food at an event.
That showed him how flawed his thinking was because players can't control some things. That's why protocols exist and should be followed so that the whole process protects the integrity of the sport and remains fair to players.
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