Sinner welcomes Open crowd response amid doping controversy

Amid the controversy surrounding his doping violations, Jannik Sinner was unsure what kind of reception he would get from Australian Open crowds.

“I was curious to see how it was,” Sinner told his media conference after defeating Nicolás Jarry in straight sets on Rod Laver Arena.

Only days out from the Australian Open, Sinner learned the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had scheduled a hearing regarding the two positive doping tests he returned last year.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) had ruled Sinner should bear “no fault or negligence” after twice testing positive for the prohibited substance clostebol in March.

Sinner and his support team argued he had been inadvertently contaminated with clostebol by his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi.

But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced in September it had lodged an appeal to CAS, claiming the no fault or negligence finding was “not correct”.

WADA is seeking a suspension of between one and two years but is not chasing an additional disqualification of Sinner’s results.

CAS confirmed a hearing would be “conducted behind closed doors” on April 16 and 17.

The ITIA’s initial decision in August sparked significant debate, with many suggesting double standards were applied due to Sinner’s high profile in the game.

Nick Kyrgios labelled the ruling “ridiculous” and has since refused to back down from his criticism of Sinner, who is the defending Australian Open champion.

Two days before the season-opening major began, world number one Sinner asserted he had not “done anything wrong”, nor did the Italian feel he needed to respond to Kyrgios.

But ahead of his match with Jarry, which he won 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, Sinner still was not sure what to expect from tennis fans at Melbourne Park as he began his Australian Open defence.

“You never know what’s happening,” Sinner said.

“I was happy about the crowd. It was a very nice crowd.

“There were some for my opponent and some for me. It was a nice atmosphere.”

‘Not my fault’

Jarry has also be the subject of a doping case.

The Chilean was banned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 2020 after testing positive to two anabolic agents, ligandrol and stanozolol.

But Jarry’s suspension was backdated after the ITF accepted his explanation the positive tests were the result of cross-contamination.

Prior to his match against Sinner, Jarry told a Chilean newspaper he felt Sinner had received preferential treatment from tennis authorities.

Sinner admitted to not being fully aware of Jarry’s circumstances.

But the 23-year-old maintained he received the same treatment as other players.

“We got treated in the same way,” Sinner said.

“There’s the protocol. If the protocol has some issues or problem, then it’s not my fault, you know?”

Sinner added: “At the end of the day, I was always judged that I was innocent.

“The amount I had in my body was less than a billionth of a gram and it was contamination.”

In the second round, Sinner will play Australian wildcard Tristan Schoolkate, who recorded just his second win at a major.

The Australian Open debutant, ranked 172 in the world, defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (4/7), 6-1, 6-4.