Jannik Sinner confirms Novak Djokovic's ex-trainer & ex-physio as new team members as doping controversy leads to major changes
Jannik Sinner has roped in rival Novak Djokovic's ex-trainer Marco Panichi and ex-physio Ulises Badio into his team. Sinner's decision comes in the aftermath of him sacking his former physical trainer and physio due to their roles in his testing positive for a banned substance earlier this year.
World No. 1 Sinner found himself in a whirlwind of controversy after he and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) jointly announced that he had tested positive for clostebol, a performance-enhancing substance, earlier this year. The announcement came days ahead of the commencement of the Italian's US Open campaign.
Unsurprisingly, there was fierce backlash against him, with prominent names in tennis such as Nick Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov suggesting that the Italian's No. 1 status led to him receiving preferential treatment after he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
However, Jannik Sinner and his team maintained that the contamination was accidental, with the source of clostebol being a spray used by the Italian's physio to treat a cut on his own finger.
According to the chronology of events presented by Sinner's defense to an independent tribunal, the physio, Giacomo Naldi, had been given the spray by the trainer, Umberto Ferrara. Naldi apparently massaged Sinner after applying the spray without wearing gloves, and the clostebol entered the Italian's bloodstream through his skin lesions.
As mounting controversy threatened to derail his campaign at Flushing Meadows, Sinner fired both Naldi and Ferrara. Now, the reigning Australian Open and US Open champion has confirmed that Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio, formerly pivotal parts of Novak Djokovic's team, will be working with him. Djokovic split with Panichi at the end of April this year and with Badio at the end of 2022.
Sinner made the announcement via his social media channels with the caption:
"Welcome to the team Marco and Ulises" (translated from Italian)
Shortly after Sinner had sacked Naldi from his team, the physio released an elaborate statement, reflecting on the time he spent with the Italian.
"It hurts" - Jannik Sinner's ex-physio Giacomo Naldi after being fired by Italian
Jannik Sinner's decision to sack Giacomo Naldi came as a disappointment to the physio. After several days of silence, Naldi released a lengthy statement via his Instagram. In his statement, the physio condemned the backlash directed towards him, Ferrara and Sinner before thanking the Italian for all their memories together.
"It hurts to think of not being a part of it anymore, it's hard not to be in the box with you and cheering for Jannik, but I'll have to get used to it quickly. Thank you Jannik and good luck, for a great career, you are a champion," read a part of Naldi's statement (translated from Italian).
Jannik Sinner is currently taking a brief break after his title-winning US Open campaign. He was recently spotted cheering on the Italy team in action at the Davis Cup.