In one of the biggest controversies in modern tennis, the world no.1 Jannik Sinner escaped a ban despite testing positive for a prohibited substance. Sinner tested positive twice in a doping test in March but walked away without a ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency said it was 'unintentional'.
However, many raised eyebrows at the ITIA's questionable decision and demanded more clarity on the matter. The world no.2 Novak Djokovic and no.3 Carlos Alcaraz also shared their views on the matter during their pre-tournament press conference at US Open 2024 on Sunday.
Djokovic called for more clarity from the ITIA and said that he understands the frustration of the players who are demanding more answers regarding Sinner's case. The 24-time Grand Slam winner also questioned the time of the verdict on Sinner's case and raised the issue of more funding for the players to represent their case.
"I understand the frustration of the players is there, because of a lack of consistency," Djokovic said in the press conference on Sunday. "As I understood, his case was cleared the moment basically it was announced. We see a lack of standardized and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players who are questioning whether they are treated the same.
"Many players ... have had similar or pretty much the same cases, where they haven't had the same outcome. and now the question is whether it is a case of the funds -- whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then more efficiently represent his or her case."
Alcaraz tried to escape the question saying he was among the people who didn't know everything about the matter. The Spanish star added that the US Open organisers have cleared Sinner to feature in the tournament so he will not make any comments on the matter.
"I think there's something behind this that a lot of people don't know," Carlos Alcaraz said. "I don't even know. In the end, it's something very difficult to talk about. In the end, he tested positive, but there must be a reason that allowed him to keep playing that we don't know. So I cannot talk a lot about it. He was declared innocent and so we have Jannik in the tournament, and so there's not much to talk about and I'm in no position to add anything else."
