We are entering into the second week of the
2024 US Open and although the controversy surrounding Jannik Sinner's failed doping
tests appears to have died down a bit, it seems to me that many players and fans were left
unsatisfied with how the whole thing played out. I touched on the subject a bit last week,
but then I noticed that opinions were split and there was some pushback because I didn't go
into the situation extensively. I spent more than half of the video on the Cincinnati Open recap
and barely spent a couple of minutes covering the Sinner situation. You guys probably wanted
a more robust answer, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to dive into both sides of
the argument and break everything down in the simplest way possible. No B.S, no
biased arguments, just pure facts. It's February 12th 2024. Umberto Ferrara, who
was Jannik Sinner's fitness coach at the time, purchases a medical spray with
the brand name "Trofodermin". This product is available over-the-counter
and does not require a prescription, so Ferrara gets it in Bologna, Italy. Fast forward to March 3rd at Indian Wells in
California. Giacomo Naldi, who is Sinner's physiotherapist, gets a cut on the little finger
on his left hand while trying to reach for a scalpel in his equipment bag. The cut begins
to bleed and Naldi wraps a bandage around it. Witnesses give conflicting answers on where and
when the cut occurs. Jannik Sinner isn't aware of the cut until he sees a bandage. He asks Naldi if
he has used anything to treat it. Naldi says no. 2 days later, Naldi removes the
bandage and fitness trainer Ferrara, who traveled with the Trofodermin
spray from Italy to the United States, recommends the spray to help with the healing.
There's a clear antidoping warning on the Trofodermin canister of spray. However, it has
already been removed from its packaging. Whyyy? Oh and by the way, Ferrara the fitness
trainer is also a qualified pharmacist who is expected to know about the medication.
Naldi says that Ferrara did not give him any anti-doping warning and that he had no
idea the spray contained Clostebol and did not read the label. Ferrara argues that
he gave Naldi a clear warning about its use. Jannik Sinner isn't aware of the situation.
Meanwhile Naldi uses the spray from March 5th to March 13th in his en suite bathroom. During
this period, he gives full body massages with oils every day for an hour to an hour and a half
without gloves. Naldi applied 2 sprays of the product on his hands and performs foot exercises
to help Sinner with an ankle injury on March 10. Sinner on the other hand, has a medical condition
called psoriasiform dermatitis, a condition that causes itching which leads to scratching and
small cuts. Naldi cannot remember if he washed his hands between applying the spray to his finger
and massaging Sinner. That evening, Sinner submits two urine samples (primary and corroborative)
and both test positive for Clostebol. Okay guys, Let's pause here for
a second and address this part. Argument: Physiotherapists may have different
relationships with their players and may not massage with gloves on a normal day, but
if you know you have a cut somewhere, it's not that hard to wear a glove to
prevent exchange of body fluids. More so, Naldi is supposed to be a top professional
who understands these things because you could easily expose a player to blood-borne
infections and put their health at risk. For Ferrara, who is a fitness trainer and a
pharmacist, he should have known better not to bring the spray anywhere near the team in
the first place. I should also mention that the 33-page document revealed that there were
discrepancies between the date that Ferrara said he got the medication and the available bank
statements that were presented. Assuming this story is true, it appears to me that Sinner was
badly let down by his team. But also seeing that there were some inconsistencies between Ferrara
and Naldi, at the end of the day, some fans might lean toward what Taylor Fritz said about the
situation. Here's a snippet of what Fritz thinks. This is the first part of the discussion. It
is assumed that every player is responsible for what goes into their bodies. However, when these
players hire top-level professionals, they sort of transfer some of that burden to the professionals
depending on the details of their contracts. But Moving on to the next part… It's March 18th now and Sinner submits
another urine sample ahead of the Miami Open. It also comes back positive for Clostebol. We are now in April and Sinner has been notified
of the adverse analytical finding (AAF) which comes with an automatic provisional suspension.
But the player and his legal team respond that same day with an urgent application for the ban
to be lifted and it is lifted the following day. Two weeks later on April 17th, the second AAF
pops up and Sinner responds with yet another urgent application. This time, the ban is lifted
on the 20th. At this point, Sinner is extremely fortunate that neither of his short‑lived
provisional bans falls on a tournament week. A month later on May 30th, the International
Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) charges Sinner with antidoping rule violations. And
about 3 weeks later on June 19th, Sinner's legal team submits detailed
explanations about what went down. Sinner is then cleared of any
wrongdoing on August 20th. However, he forfeits prize money and
ranking points from Indian Wells. Soooo. Why was Sinner allowed to compete?
The answer can be simplified in a way - He was suspended twice but appealed against
those bans with the argument that he was inadvertently exposed to Clostebol.
The fact that Sinner was able to file an appeal that same day could mean that his
legal team was on top of their game. However, there are rumors that he might have been
given an advanced warning before being formally notified but like I said, I'm not
going to fuel any rumors or speculations. Now, a total of 10 in-depth interviews were
conducted by the ITIA's investigators and they sought the expertise of 3 antidoping experts. An
independent tribunal also reviewed the details of the case. The conclusion was "Sinner
bore no negligence and wasn't at fault." In assessing whether a player is at
fault, the ITIA considers the steps that the player takes to make sure they
don't get contaminated. In Sinner's case, he hired experts and tried to double-check
with Naldi if he used anything for the cut. This alongside many other reasons factored
in the decision to free Sinner from any fault because he couldn't have suspected that he was
getting contaminated despite his best efforts. Now let's talk about the levels of Clostebol
that were detected in Sinner's urine. The concentration in the first sample was 121 pg/ml
which was adjusted to 86pg/ml under normal specific gravity. The second sample had a similar
concentration of 122pg/ml adjusted to 76 pg/ml. This is how performance enhancing drugs and their
metabolites are measured. The "One billionth of a gram" argument is misleading, holds no water,
and unfortunately oversimplifies everything to the layman. This then leads to false assumptions
because that's not how the concentration of PEDs or their metabolites are measured. One billionth
of a gram in what quantity of urine? See the problem? Basic biology also tells us that when
substances get into our bodies, most times they go through a series of processes before getting
discharged. While the quantity found in Sinner's urine at the time was not deemed effective enough
to cause any performance enhancement, you cannot argue with all certainty that the levels could
not have been higher than that in his body. Also, for detectable systemic absorption, it is
likely that the steroid got into Sinner's body through open skin cuts rather than transdermally
through his skin. I did come across a research paper, which brought up cases of athletes being
contaminated with certain steroids via lip balm, a simple massage, and even through
sexual contact. But there was a gross lack of further studies on the subject of
contamination with Clostebol specifically. Let's pump the brakes here again and address
the question. Did Sinner bear any negligence or fault? Personally, I think that it is
possible that Sinner genuinely didn't know but that is only an opinion, not an argument. I definitely do not speak for everyone
but the trend I noticed was that more and more people were critical of the
entire process and not necessarily the player. This led to talks about preferential
treatment. But as you might already know, Jannik Sinner is not the first person to
have successfully appealed a suspension. Recently 33-year-old Marco Bortolotti,
an Italian player ranked around 400, found himself in a similar situation. He said
that he experienced hell for months and was sympathetic towards Sinner. Back in October
2023 after a Challenger event in Lisbon, Bortolotti provided an in-competition urine
sample which contained a metabolite of clostebol. Bortolotti was notified
of the outcome but was eligible to continue playing until February when
he was found not guilty or negligent. Just like Sinner, Bortolotti immediately
provided an explanation, which the ITIA accepted after seeking scientific advice.
It took just eight days for the agency to conclude on February 7th that Bortolotti
bore no fault or negligence. The nature of Bortolotti's explanation was also
redacted in the ITIA's final decision. The reality is that a lower-ranked
player who found himself in a similar situation also had his case resolved. Also, the fact that Clostebol is notorious
when it comes to doping might have played a huge role in Sinner being able to avoid
suspension because it was very easy for them to identify and verify the source of
contamination. For some of the other athletes, it might have taken them a little longer to
find the source of contamination. In the last 4 years alone, 38 Italian athletes
have tested positive for Clostebol. But I know this doesn't answer all the
questions about preferential treatment, so let's dig further. One of the reasons I think some fans feel like
there are double standards is because most of us haven't always been familiar with the complex
antidoping rules. In the past every player seemed to be guilty until proven innocent depending on
the case. These players were immediately hit with lengthy suspensions and appeal processes.
I'm not sure who to blame here for the lack of clarity of the rules before now. The ITIA?
Tennis organizations? Because just looking at the hot takes from both professional players
and fans tells you that even the players themselves haven't always been sure of what's in
the rule book, and I do not think that is ideal. There should be some basic understanding of
the existing protocol just the same way you should stay on top of your hydration game with
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partnering with us. Okay, back to the video. Sinner has since parted ways with Giacomo
Naldi his physio and Ferrara the fitness trainer. However, Naldi didn't
seem to be too pleased with how the whole thing played out. He put up this post on
Instagram probably feeling a bit screwed over. And fans have tried to attach different
meanings to what the post was all about. But how does the whole thing affect
Sinner's reputation going forward? I think you have to give props to Sinner for
how he's handled the situation so far. He doesn't shy away from answering any questions
about his failed doping tests. The Italian says that although it's not been easy, he's been
getting a lot of support from friends and family. But what do the top players
make of this situation? Frances Tiafoe didn't want to dwell too
much on the subject. Here's what he said. However, Fritz made an important
point which I agree with. Here, take a listen. We all know that no two cases
are the same but the truth is that the rules haven't always been so clear for everyone
to know. One good thing about Sinner's case is that players and fans now have a
better idea of how this whole thing works. Djokovic also weighed in on the situation and also suggested that the entire process
be standardized moving forward. Carlitos also had an interesting
answer when asked about Sinner, which some fans might have misinterpreted. True to his reputation as someone
who gives one of the best interviews, Medvedev recently talked about
the case and here's what he said. These are my takeaways from the whole situation. I think we should not be too quick to
pronounce judgment on players because it's highly likely that we don't
know every single thing that went on behind the scenes. What we can do
is to make arguments from both sides based on the knowledge available and then
compare and come to our own conclusions. Secondly the tennis bodies have set a standard
and it would be nice to see them follow this same approach for every player. In the
past and when I made that Halep video, I was very critical of how many players end
up serving more time than they should have or later prove themselves innocent
after initially being condemned. How many times have we seen suspensions
reduced or even overturned? Of course, the current system of antidoping isn't perfect,
so if the current cracks aren't fixed now, there might not be future guarantees that
wrong suspensions won't happen again. Also, I think everyone's gonna move on
soon and this whole issue will die down and then we can enjoy tennis like before.
While some people might have overreacted, it's understandable. Of course, Sinner
totally understands the situation which is why he says he'll talk to anyone he
has issues with privately if needed. Another question that popped up recently was about
Sinner skipping the Olympics. Was Tonsillitis the only reason he missed the Olympics or did the
doping situation have a role to play in it? Sinner responded by saying that his decision to skip
the Olympics was purely due to physical reasons. I find it very unfortunate for Sinner
that his career-best season so far, is coinciding with what some might call a
"villain arc". He won the Australian Open, reached the world number 1, already
has Masters 1000 titles this year, and all that. The spotlight has been on him
and it may remain like that for a while. But Jannik is adamant that his situation brings
more clarity despite being tough. So far, he has been smacking his opponents
in the early round matches at the US Open and you can already tell
that his head is in the game. He has done a great job in not being
distracted by the whole situation. It's definitely going to be hard for me to touch
on every single argument about Jannik's doping situation and honestly, I don't even think
it's going to be worth it. But one thing I also want to encourage is for fans not to tear
down players with hateful words despite not agreeing with everything that has played out.
I'll admit it, these discussions aren't always comfortable but I think it's totally wrong to
take out frustrations on a player especially considering that most people have problems with
the process and not necessarily the player. From what we've seen on and off the
court, Jannik Sinner has been a balanced and level-headed guy and while that might not
mean much when it comes to doping of course, I think it's always a great idea for us to have
arguments in a respectful away in a way that helps us to learn from each other. I'll let
you guys be the judges on this one. What do you make of Sinner's situation, How the tennis
bodies handled it, and the reactions from fans and players? And what does this mean
for the tennis world moving forward? We have the Discord Channel up and running and
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