Jannik Sinner disappointed by silence of players he thought would back him: 'I don’t want to name them'

World number one men’s tennis player Jannik Sinner, who will return from a three-month doping ban on Friday, has spoken about the lack of support from the tennis community during his tough time. Sinner served a three-month doping ban from February 2025 after an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, where authorities accepted that the banned anabolic agent clostebol had entered his system via massages from his physiotherapist.

Sinner, who has won three Grand Slam titles so far, will make a return at the Italian Open, with an aim to prepare for the French Open that starts on 25 May.

Sinner claims lack of support from players

Speaking at a press conference before the Italian Open, the 23-year-old revealed that the players he expected would stand by him did not send me messages after his ban, while “surprising” messages came from players who he did not expect to contact him.

“Tennis is an individual sport, everyone has their own team. In Monte Carlo I met Draper and Sonego, we had a great time. At the beginning I had surprising messages from tennis players that I would not have expected to receive. And nothing from those who instead I expected to receive something," Sinner said. “Names? I don’t want to name them. Everything will be fine, it will pass slowly”.

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Sinner also said that he entered the Rome tournament with low expectations.

“It’s a very, very low expectation tournament in general for me, it’s talking also results wise,” Sinner told reporters. “What’s missing is the complete feedback of where my level is. That’s going to come then slowly with the time of playing, after the first round match I’m going to have a good picture of myself — where I am at.”

Sinner continues to hold the top ranking in men’s tennis as Alexander Zverev suffered an early defeat in Monte-Carlo Masters.

The Italian also revealed that he didn’t want to accept a three-month ban, but he had to pick the best from the “very bad” options.

“For me personally good news that the Grand Slams were not included … This kind of agreement, I didn’t want to do it in the beginning. It was not easy for me to accept it because I know what really happened, but sometimes we have to choose the best in a very bad moment,” Sinner said.

“It’s all over now, so I’m happy to play tennis again.”