Jannik Sinner Breaks Silence On His Three-Month Ban: 'It Seems A Bit Unfair'
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Jannik Sinner openly spoke about his three-month suspension for the first time since being banned in February.
In February this year, Sinner accepted a three-month ban as a part of an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after their appeal of his doping case. That suspension meant that the Italian player had to miss the entire Sunshine Double, Monte-Carlo Masters, and Madrid Open.
The ATP World No. 1 player will return at his home ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the Italian Open in Rome, and with his return nearing, the 23-year-old spoke about his suspension for the first time since releasing a brief statement after the ban was announced.
Sinner sat down with Sky Sports Italia, and he was very honest about how he views his ongoing ban. The three-time Grand Slam champion admitted that he initially wasn't very happy about having to serve a suspension.
At the same time, Sinner realized that accepting a three-month ban is probably the best option for him, which is why he has decided to do it. According to the Italian player, it was the "lesser evil."
"In the end, you have to choose the lesser evil and I believe that is what I have done. Even if sometimes it seems a bit unfair, all that I'm living, but then if I look at things from a different perspective it could have been worse. Even more unfairness. This is the way it is."
Although he didn't want to be suspended at all, Sinner admitted that once a three-month ban was proposed, he and his team chose to accept it relatively quickly.
"The decision to take the three-month suspension was rather quick. We accepted it quite quickly, even though I didn't agree completely. There was a bit of back and forth with my lawyer and the people around me."
Being suspended is certainly not a situation that Sinner wanted to find himself in. However, he accepts it for what it is, and he was able to cope with it.
"After we took this decision, it took me a while to find myself again. But I am still here. There is still a bit of time to digest all this. I stopped doing what I always dreamed of doing."
Sinner also admitted that he can't wait to return to competitive action. He also tried looking at the positives and used this time to improve on the clay courts.
"I am in the best position to play this sport. At the beginning, I counted the days, but now every day that goes by, as the time gets closer, I feel better physically and mentally."
"Even if there is still time, it is a good opportunity for me to improve in those areas in which I had difficulties, on a surface on which I struggle. So, let's try to do something different. Hopefully it works otherwise we will have more time to try again."
