'It's been a mistake,' - Matteo Berrettini comes forward to support Jannik Sinner amid doping controversy

Matteo Berrettini also lauded Jannik Sinner for handling the situation maturely.

Matteo Berrettini has come forward in support of Jannik Sinner after several tennis stars criticized the 23-year-old for failing doping tests and continuing to play.

After winning the 2024 Cincinnati Open, the Italian tennis star shared an official statement from ITIA on his social media accounts. In March earlier this year, during the Indian Wells Masters, he tested positive for Clostebol, a banned substance.

Clostebol is an anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS), which is derived from testosterone. As per the aforementioned post, he had a trace element of the substance in his body, which is less than a billionth of a gram.

In the conclusion of their investigation, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) stated that the Italian player had been contaminated after he received treatment from his physiotherapist. During the time, the Italian tennis star had a cut on one of his fingers, Sinner’s fitness trainer gave his physiotherapist a product for a cut on the latter’s finger.

The physiotherapist treated the wound without gloves and the product was eventually transferred into the 23-year-old’s body. The physiotherapist did not know that the product he was using had Clostebol and Sinner was also unaware of the product either. However, the 2024 Australian Open champion has parted ways with his physiotherapist recently.

The 2024 Cincinnati Masters champion wrote in his statement, “I will now put this challenging and deeply unfortunate period behind me. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure I continue to comply with the ITIA’s anti-doping programme and I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance.”

Nick Kyrgios, Liam Broady, and Denis Shapovalov quickly took to social media and bashed Sinner for taking the drug intentionally. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic gave a calculated answer to the question, where they also challenged ITIA’s decision-making.

However, recently Matteo Berrettini came forward and talked about Sinner’s current mental situation. Berrettini revealed that the 23-year-old has been going through a tough time. Matteo Berrettini also lauded Sinner for handling the situation maturely.

He said, (via Sky Sports Italy), “I think it’s been a tough few months for him, it’s impressive how he’s handled it all. I saw something different in his eyes, maybe less joy than usual. It’s impressive how he’s handled it all, he’s achieved great results despite the situation.

He further added, “We talked in the locker room, just by looking into each other’s eyes we understood how difficult it was to handle this situation. Even these days he’s handling it all very well, it’s impressive at his age. I complimented him. Nobody would want to be in his position right now, I’ve known him for long time and I’m sure it’s been a mistake.”

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram