Jannik Sinner reshuffles staff for US Open restart after doping scandal

World number one Jannik Sinner, who avoided a ban despite failing two doping tests, reiterated that it was an accident that a banned substance entered his body.

And on Friday he confirmed that he had separated from the employees who had given it to him.

The Italian sacked fitness coach Umberto Ferrara and physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi after they were blamed for his positive tests in March.

“Because of these mistakes, I'm not so confident now to continue with this,” said the 23-year-old Sinner. “The only thing I need now is fresh air. I've been struggling a lot in the last few months. Now I've been waiting for the result and now I just need fresh air.”

As the top seed, Sinner has the chance to bring a breath of fresh air to this US Open.

He comes with a title in Cincinnati and, more importantly, the fact that he avoided a suspension.

He met with the press for the first time since the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced both the doping results and its decision on Tuesday.

Sinner was found to have low levels of clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, on March 10 and 18.

But the ITIA said an independent commission held a hearing on August 15 and found that traces of the substance “were due to contamination by a member of the support team who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own skin to treat a minor wound.”

Ferrara bought the spray and Naldi used it on himself before massaging it into Sinner – thus contaminating it.

“Of course I was worried because it was the first time for me and hopefully the last time I'll be in this situation,” Sinner said. “Also, we have to see how much I had in my body, which is 0.000000001, so there are a lot of zeros before you get to a 1. So of course I was worried because I'm always the player who is very cautious in this situation. I think I'm a fair player on and off the pitch.”

But will his opponents see him or the process as fair?

While he insists that there are “no shortcuts and no different treatment” because of his rank, Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov criticise what they see as double standards.

“Of course I know how frustrated the other players are sometimes,” said Sinner, who could face Americans in three of the first four rounds and will open his match against American Mackie McDonald on Tuesday.

He knows that his reputation could be damaged.

“It might change a few things. But anyone who knows me well knows that I haven't done anything – and I would never do anything – that breaks the rules,” Sinner said. “We'll see. Here I also know who is my friend and who isn't, because my friends know that I would never do something like that and that we stick together. As for my reputation, we'll see how it goes now, right? Because I can't really control that. So we'll see.”