The doping scandal surrounding Jannik Sinner is still an issue

Tennis player Jannik Sinner, number 1 in the world rankings, failed two doping tests this spring, but was acquitted and not suspended.Getty Images

The US Open began on Monday, but what was “hanging over the start” was the recent announcement that No. 1 tennis player Jannik Sinner failed two doping tests this spring but was cleared and will not be suspended, according to Ava Wallace of the WASHINGTON POST. In his first public comments on the case, Sinner said, “The only thing I need right now is clean air.” But Wallace wrote that Sinner, who plays American Mackie McDonald on Tuesday, “may not find that so easily in New York.” Sinner goes into the US Open “firmly at the forefront of the new generation of superstars in men's tennis.” But his case “sparked controversy” because the announcement of his resolution was the “first time the public learned of his failed tests.” That led some players to “question whether Sinner was given preferential treatment because of his status in the sport,” both in that the case “was kept under wraps and in that he was allowed to continue playing.” Other players have been “suspended or banned while their appeals are considered.” Sinner said the fact that he and his team “quickly discovered how the substance got into his system made all the difference” in why he was allowed to compete. But Wallace notes that his explanation “did not resolve questions about why his case was kept so tightly under wraps.” Most players interviewed about the case before the US Open said they “trusted the outcome of the proceedings and that Sinner is clean, but expressed dissatisfaction with the fairness of the system” (WASHINGTON POST, August 26.).