All eyes were on Jannik Sinner at the US Open on Thursday as he made his first appearance on the practice courts in New York since the announcement that he had avoided a doping ban after successfully arguing two positive anti-doping tests had been the result of contamination.
On Tuesday, Sinner and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed that the player had twice tested positive for trace amounts of the banned substance clostebol from anti-doping test samples taken in March and an independent tribunal had subsequently determined that Sinner should bear no fault and not be deemed negligent for the failed tests.
The announcements came a day after Sinner had won his second Masters 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open, defeating Frances Tiafoe in straight sets. After flying to New York and not appearing at the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre on Tuesday or Wednesday, Sinner trained with Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday in a midday practice session.
Sinner, who followed his fellow world No 1 Iga Swiatek on practice court 1, emerged to strong cheers from fans in stands that were completely full and the 23-year-old was also greeted warmly by Dimitrov. Sinner was flanked by his coaches Simone Vagnozzi, who oversaw the session, and Darren Cahill, who frequently offered his charge advice.
While Sinner has previously been accompanied by his fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara and physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi, they remained absent on Thursday. During the independent tribunal, Sinner’s team said Ferrara had purchased Trofodermin, an over-the-counter spray, and Naldi had used the spray to treat a cut on his finger. During his regular massage treatments, they argued, Naldi had contaminated Sinner. On Tuesday, Cahill said that they are still deciding what Sinner’s team will look like going forward.
“At the moment it’s just Simone and I, the two coaches that are here,” said Cahill. “And we’re supporting Jannik at the moment. [The decision] is just 24 hours old. So we will just keep pushing forward and see what happens.”
As Sinner and Dimitrov trained together, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Ben Shelton all on nearby courts, the tournament’s singles draws were released at noon.
Sinner, the top seed, will face home favourite Mackenzie McDonald in the first round in a stacked opening half. Sinner could potentially battle Medvedev, the fifth seed and 2021 champion, in the quarter-final. Alcaraz, the third seed and 2022 champion, has been drawn in Sinner’s half and the pair could meet in the semi-finals.
Fresh from his Olympic gold medal, Novak Djokovic will begin his pursuit of a 25th grand slam title against a qualifier. Djokovic may face the 28th seed Alexei Popyrin, the shock Montreal Masters 1000 champion earlier this month, but the 37-year-old has been handed a helpful draw on his return to hard courts for the first time since March.
Unlike other tournaments that host a live draw ceremony, the US Open organisers have adopted an unpopular “draw reveal” format, with the tournament conducting the draw in private before revealing it at an appointed time.
There were ample notable match-ups to reveal in the women’s draw, one of which will see Emma Raducanu mark her return to New York against Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion. Raducanu is seeking her first win at the US Open since her shock 2021 triumph after losing to Alizé Cornet in the first round of her title defence in 2022 and then missing the 2023 edition following surgery.
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Raducanu has been in strong form when she has competed, following up her fourth-round run at Wimbledon with a quarter-final at the Washington WTA 500 tournament. However, she has not played since the first week of the hard court swing as she opted out of playing qualifying rounds at the bigger tournaments.
Among the other British players, the No 31 seed Katie Boulter will face a qualifier in round one and Harriet Dart will open her tournament against the French wildcard Chloe Paquet. Jack Draper, seeded 25th, has a tough first-round match against Zhang Zhizhen of China. A potential third-round match against Alcaraz looms if both players live up to their seedings. Dan Evans, meanwhile, has been drawn against the 23rd seed, Karen Khachanov.
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka will mark her return to the US Open against Jelena Ostapenko, the 10th seed and former French Open champion. Fresh off her Olympic gold medal, Zheng Qinwen, the seventh seed, will face a tough first-round match against Amanda Anisimova, a wildcard. Both Swiatek, the top seed, and the second seed Aryna Sabalenka will face qualifiers in round one.
Source: theguardian.com
