LONDON – Jannik Sinner confirmed that he recently fired two members of his team — fitness coach Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio, who themselves were replacements for people involved in the player’s doping case — but declined Saturday to explain the reason for the change ahead of Wimbledon.
Sinner, who has been ranked No. 1 for more than a year, said that he decided shortly after losing in the second round of the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, this month to make the change. Sinner has not yet found substitutes for Panichi and Badio, who both used to work with Novak Djokovic.
“Nothing seriously bad happened. They did great work for (the past) three months. Sometimes, things happen,” Sinner said at his pre-tournament news conference. “The timing obviously isn’t the best, but having done a lot of work (together) before, it won’t affect this Grand Slam a lot. I feel well physically and mentally and ready to compete.”
Play begins Monday at the All England Club, where Sinner was a quarterfinalist in 2024. He will play Luca Nardi in an all-Italian matchup on Tuesday.
Last year, Sinner tested positive twice for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid in March; the case wasn’t made public until August, shortly before the U.S. Open, which he ended up winning for the second of his three Grand Slam titles.
He initially was completely cleared, based on the defense that he accidentally was exposed to the banned substance, Clostebol, via a massage from his then-physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi. Sinner said his fitness trainer at the time, Umberto Ferrara, purchased a product in Italy and gave it to Naldi for a cut on Naldi’s finger. Naldi then treated Sinner while not wearing gloves.
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed the exoneration, and Sinner agreed to serve a three-month ban that ended right before the Italian Open in May.
On Saturday, Sinner was asked repeatedly in English and Italian what led him to part ways with Panichi and Badio.
“There’s not one specific thing,” Sinner said.
He was the runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open three weeks ago, wasting a two-set lead and three match points in a final that lasted 5 1/2 hours.
As for adding new team members, Sinner said Saturday: “I haven’t thought about replacements. It’s not the time to think about my options. But there are a lot of options.”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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