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Sinner receives support from Draper amid doping ban: 'He doesn't deserve any hate he gets'
As Jannik Sinner gets ready to make his return to tennis after a doping ban, Jack Draper has come out in his support, slamming the critics of the world No.1. read more
Jack Draper has defended Jannik Sinner as the Italian nears the end of the doping ban. Image: Reuters
England tennis star Jack Draper has defended world No.1 Jannik Sinner, who is currently serving a three-month ban due to doping. Defending the 23-year-old Sinner, Draper said that the Italian 'doesn't deserve any of the hate he gets' from his critics.
Sinner received a three-month ban earlier this year after he tested positive for clostebol in March of 2024. Many top players, including Serena Williams, have questioned the short tenure of the ban, but the 23-year-old Draper feels Sinner is innocent and it was all just a mistake.
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Sinner has claimed that he was contaminated with the banned substance clostebol by his physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi during a massage.
Draper defends 'friend' Sinner
Defending Sinner, Draper, in a joint interview with the BBC and the Guardian, said: 'When people ask about him, or anyone, I'll tell the truth… I think Jannik is a really, really genuine, nice person, and on top of that, he's obviously an unbelievable player. In this situation, I'm sure that he would have absolutely zero idea of anything. That's just the way life goes—sometimes there's mistakes.'
'In terms of actually how I feel about him as a person, I think it's important for people to know and recognise that the guy's very, very kind-hearted and a good human being, so he doesn't deserve any of the hate that he gets.'
It has to be noted that Draper is quite close to Sinner and recently trained with him after his defeat in the Monte Carlo Open.
'I was looking for practice for the week, and I knew that Jannik was available and in Monte Carlo on the clay, so I organised with his team to go out there for three or four days and to train with him… I mean, look, if you can train with anyone, it's got to be probably the best in the world, right? He's obviously had a bit of time off, but he's playing at an incredible level still. I'm looking forward to having him back on the tour because I think his presence has been missed. It was great to be with him for a few days and get some good sparring," Draper shared.
Sinner is expected to make his tennis return during the Masters event in Rome next month.
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Both Sinner and Alcaraz, world No.1 and world No.2, are in their early twenties, just out of boyhood, their faces not yet crystallised into the men they will become. No matter how different they are on the outside, these are worthy rivals cut from the same competitive cloth. At two different points in the match, one early, one late, both men called the line for his adversary's serve when the match situation was testing them. Alcaraz for a Sinner serve down the tee that was called a fault by a line judge. Sinner for an Alcaraz wide serve even as the umpire was getting down from her chair, scuffing the ground beneath his foot and sparing her the trouble. These two twentysomethings at the top of men's tennis today carry their lineage well. As the reporters streamed back into their work room, one man was heard asking, 'What did we do to deserve this?' For someone at their first Roland Garros ever, mon dieu, what indeed?
