- Zverev discusses sinners: A strong connection won't transform them.
Zverev maintains that his positive relationship with opponent Sinner isn't being impacted by the latter's recent acquittal after two doping tests showed positives for the prohibited anabolic steroid Clostebol. "I haven't formed an opinion as I don't have sufficient details," shared the 2021 Olympic tennis champion, speaking at the US Open about Sinner's case. "Sinner's a marvelous guy I've gotten to know off the court. Our relationship has always been positive, and that's not changing."
Following two March tests showing positives and a subsequent provisional suspension, Sinner was given a clean chit by an autonomous court, according to the Italian tennis authority Itia. The belief that the prohibited substance entered his system unintentionally through a massage was deemed valid.
Zverev found something "a tad peculiar"
Itia only shared the acquittal and positive tests on Tuesday. "The only thing that strikes me as odd is that everything happened on the same day," mentioned Zverev. Global Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) will carefully analyze the decision and has the option to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne if necessary.
As the top-seeded player, Sinner will debut at the US Open on Monday. The 23-year-old recently claimed victory at the Masters-1000 tournament and bested Zverev in the semifinals on the way to the title.
Zverev expressed his puzzlement about the timeline of Sinner's doping test results, stating, "The only thing that strikes me as odd is that everything happened on the same day." Despite this, he emphasized that Sinner's positive relationship with him remains unaffected, as he noted earlier, "Our relationship has always been positive, and that's not changing."
