Has Jannik Sinner become Novak Djokovic’s bête noire? The Italian tennis player inflicted a new defeat on his Serbian counterpart – the fourth in their last five meetings – on Sunday, October 13, during the final of the Shanghai Masters 1,000 (China), winning in two sets: 7 -6 [7/4]6-3.
Transaplin is now assured of finishing the year as world number one, after a 2024 season in which he won his first Grand Slam titles, at the Australian Open, then the US Open, and during which he won the Cincinnati Masters 1000 (Ohio). ) and Miami (Florida).
Still, the 23-year-old faces doping charges, having tested positive twice for a banned substance in the spring. And before the start of the tournament in Shanghai, Sinner admitted that he did not feel “not comfortable” due to the continuation of a procedure that “I thought it was over”.
Suspension of “one to two years”
Jannik Sinner was first cleared at the end of August by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), a decision strongly criticized by some tennis players, including Australian Nick Kyrgios and Frenchman Lucas Pouille. But a month later, the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed, demanding “one or two years” suspension against him.
In full ascendancy after winning his first major title, in Melbourne, Jannik Sinner had tested positive in two anti-doping tests for clostebol, an anabolic steroid, eight days apart: on March 10 during the Indian Wells tournament (California) and the March 18 out of competition. , but just before the Miami tournament. Traces of the substance were found in his urine. On both occasions he appealed, allowing him to reduce his automatic suspensions (April 4-5 for the first, April 17-20 for the second).
The Italian defended himself by explaining that he had suffered “Contamination by a member of your staff, who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own hand to treat a small injury”according to the ITIA. It is now up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to decide on this matter.
An almost blank year for Djokovic
After this new disappointment, Novak Djokovic’s season could be described as empty at this point, without the beautiful golden touch of the Paris Games and the Olympic gold medal that the Serbian finally won, at 37 years old, after bronze obtained in. 2008 in Beijing and three other failed attempts. A symbolic completion that completes the greatest record in the history of tennis.
The truth is that, for the first time since 2017, “Nole” has not won a Grand Slam or an ATP tournament since the beginning of the year. To remedy this, he has an appointment in Paris-Bercy, on October 28, for the last Masters 1,000 of the year, where he will try to revalidate his title.
