Jannik Sinner believes he will be cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) when the ATP world No. 1's appeal is eventually heard.
Sinner began his ATP Finals campaign against Alex de Minaur on home soil in Turin. The 23-year-old played a very solid match to beat the Australian in straight sets. De Minaur was making his first appearance at the tournament.
Receiving such vociferous support from a home crowd might be precisely what Sinner needs right now after dealing consistently with stress since twice testing positive for the banned substance clostebol at March's Indian Wells Open.
Sinner recently reflected on the moment of darkness he felt when hearing the news. It came as a huge shock, and the Italian struggled to cope immediately after testing positive.
After a five-month private investigation, Sinner was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The body did not feel he was at fault for the clostebol entering his system.
Sinner explained that the banned substance was in his body after receiving massages from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray for a cut that contained traces of clostebol. The substance entered Sinner's system after getting massages without gloves from him.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chose to appeal the case. Although it did not dispute Sinner's version of how the clostebol entered his system, WADA argues he bears some fault and should receive a one- to two-year ban.
Sinner now must anxiously wait for CAS to make a ruling. That is not expected to arrive until early 2025, meaning the world No. 1 will undoubtedly play the entire ATP Finals without a verdict being reached.
The Australian Open and US Open champion was asked about that situation at a press conference alongside de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, and Daniil Medvedev, the other players in his group at the ATP Finals.
Despite admitting that it is not a nice situation, Sinner is confident that he will be cleared like he was before by the ITIA and that the situation will work out positively for him when CAS makes a ruling.
"We don't know nothing yet. Look, I've been in this position three times now already. It's not a great place to be, but it always came out very positively, so I'm very positive."
Sinner not wanting to say too much about the situation is understandable. It is almost certainly on his mind a lot off the court anyway, so the world No. 1 wants to focus as much as possible on matters on the court.
The Italian continues to receive strong support from his coach, Darren Cahill. He recently called him an inspiration and said that last year's ATP Finals runner-up knows he did nothing wrong.
It may have been uncomfortable for Medvedev, Fritz, and de Minaur to be sitting near Sinner when he was asked about the case since they may have differing opinions on it. Sinner has previously admitted he found out who his real friends were after the doping case became public.