Jannik Sinner has revealed that he considered to leave tennis between the consequences of his doping issue.
World No. 1 is preparing to return to sport after agreeing on a three-month ban with the World Anti-Doping Agency for the positive tests he returned to last March for a banned steroid.
The sinner was initially cleaned of the fault after it was admitted that the substance entered his body through a product used by his physics then during a massage, but Wada appealed the decision.
In February, less than a month after winning his third title Grand Slam in Australian Open, it was announced that the Italian had accepted the short suspension, which will end on May 5.
The case has provoked strong reactions from inside and outside the sport, with many argued sinners received preferential treatment, though he has always continued that he has done nothing wrong.
Speaking about the Italian television station Rai, Sinner said: “When I arrived in Australia in January I was uncomfortable, also because it seemed to me that the other players looked at me differently. For a moment, I even thought of giving up everything.”
He credited his team and the people close to him to change his opinion, adding: “In the end I built my bubble, where no one else came in, and this certainly gave me the desire to continue, the desire to prepare well for the clashes.
“I am very happy that this phase is over and I am ready to start again, even if a stop period, maybe not so long, it was necessary for me.”
The sinner is set to return to his home event, Italian Open in Rome, who begins next Wednesday.
He is in a 21 -game winning strip dating from a final loss against Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing in early October and still has a lead of about 2,000 points at the top of the standings.
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