"Je suis propre et juste". La conférence de presse de Jannik Sinner était particulièrement attendue ce vendredi, avant le début de l'US Open. L'Italien est au coeur des discussions depuis mardi. Le numéro 1 mondial avait été testé positif au stéroïde anabolisant Clostebol à deux reprises en mars dernier, mais a été blanchi. En effet, selon un tribunal indépendant, il y a une "absence de faute ou de négligence" de la part de l'Italien, car la substance interdite, présente en faible quantité, provient d'un spray utilisé par son kiné. De nombreux joueurs ont pris la parole, notamment Nick Kyrgios et Lucas Pouille, pour fustiger la décision de l'ITIA. Jannik Sinner s'est donc longuement expliqué devant les journalistes. "Les personnes dont le test est positif suivent le même processus. Il n'y a pas de raccourci ou de traitement différent."
Vidéo : @USOpen
Vidéo : @USOpen
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00:00A big confidence boost. It was a very difficult tournament. Obviously I'm very happy about
00:10the result. It was a great moment to share this with the people. Hopefully it's a good
00:16confidence boost for here, which is the last Grand Slam of the year, so let's see what's
00:21coming.
00:22I'm just wondering, given the news that's come out this week, how will you balance all
00:38this? You've got a tournament to play and obviously a lot of news away from the court.
00:43Of course it's not ideal before a Grand Slam, but in my mind I know that I haven't done
00:52anything wrong. I had to play already months with this in my head, but just remembering
01:00myself that I haven't done really anything wrong. I always respected these rules and
01:07I always will respect these rules of anti-doping. It's just obviously a relief for myself having
01:17this result. It's just good to be back here. It's an amazing city, an amazing place to
01:24play tennis. I'm just trying to enjoy as much as I can and hopefully having a good tournament.
01:34We won't be entertaining any more questions on that subject. If you have a question about
01:38another subject, you can ask the question, but he's already given his statement.
01:44Can I ask a question?
01:46You can ask the question.
01:47Yannick, this is coming out as the US Open is yawning ahead of you. Do you kind of wish
01:53that this news had come out earlier and not put it on you right now? Do you regret waiting
02:00so long for this whole story to come out?
02:03It has been a very long process. I had to deal with this already for months. I think
02:13we all know for how long I'm talking about. Obviously I had to take now some decisions
02:23in base of the outcome. There are some dates you have to respect throughout this whole
02:32process so you can't really choose when it comes out and when it doesn't come out. In
02:39my mind, as I said before, I'm just happy that it's finally out because it's one kind
02:47of relief also for me and my team which is still here. Obviously because of that the
02:56preparation for this tournament has not been perfect because of certain circumstances,
03:04but it's out. It's something what I was waiting for, waiting for the result. So now it's out
03:14and that's it.
03:17Howard?
03:18I'm Howard Fendrich for the Associated Press. You just mentioned making some decisions.
03:27Could you tell us what those are and are Umberto and Giacomo no longer working with you?
03:34Yeah. First I want to start with that they have been a huge part for my career. We worked
03:41together for two years. We made an incredible job, bringing a lot of success and then having
03:46a great team behind me. Now because of these mistakes I'm not feeling that confident to
03:56continue with them. The only thing I just need right now is some clean air. I was struggling
04:04a lot in the last months. Now I was waiting for the result and now I just need some clean
04:10air.
04:11David?
04:12David Kane, Tennis.com. It's hard to keep a secret in tennis. Were you concerned that
04:16this would come out before you were ready for it to come out?
04:20Yeah. Look, the outcome of the result was Monday. It was a longer process. It started
04:31with obviously this mistake, what they made. But I was always concerned that it might come
04:41out at some point. In the beginning it was a different view but then after it was a little
04:46bit more complicated. I went through, me and my team and the lawyers, I'm just a simple
04:55tennis player and that's what I love to do. But this is also part of the rules of anti-doping
05:05and VAR and ITAA. So I was happy to collaborate obviously and getting the best result possible
05:12knowing my innocence of this whole case. So as I said, now it's finally out. It is what
05:18it is.
05:19Matt?
05:20Jannik, there are other players, Matt Futterman from the Athletic, there are other players
05:26who have gone through these experiences where they've made a mistake and have gotten a big
05:33penalty because those are just the rules. Even though you knew you hadn't done anything
05:40wrong, how worried were you that just because of the complicated process and the complicated
05:47rules that you might get a larger penalty just for making a mistake because it has happened?
05:55Yeah, the thing is very simple in one way. When they informed us that I was tested positive,
06:06the first thing we were trying to figure out what substance it was because Umberto is the
06:15guy who knows really, really well this whole process and whatever is in nutrition and he
06:23has a very high degree of pharmacy and everything. So we asked him, he knew it straight away
06:30that it was his spray and knowing because of that was the spray and knowing also how
06:40it all ended up into my system, we went straight back to them and we explained everything,
06:49how it happened and that was the reason why I had the chance to keep playing. Obviously
06:55then after in the background while I was playing we had to figure out what would happen then
07:01in the future but the reason why I could have played was because we knew where the substance
07:08was in and how it came into my body. So this is very important, making this process, letting
07:17them know and they understood it straight away. They believed in me and in us and that's
07:24why I could have played.
07:26So you weren't that worried?
07:29Of course I was worried because it was the first time for me and hopefully the last time
07:33that I'm in this situation, position. There are also a different part we have to see is
07:40the amount I had in my body which is 0.00000001. So there are a lot of zeros before coming
07:52up a one. So I was worried of course because I'm always the player who was working very
08:01very carefully in this. I believe I'm a fair player on and off the court and yeah that's
08:10a bit how it all was and how it went.
08:13Two more, Brian, Willie.
08:20Just your ranking alone is obviously going to put a target on your back but I'm curious
08:25if you feel that not having been suspended, despite some other players in the past having
08:32been suspended for what they say were accidental mishaps, would put an even bigger target on
08:37your back than you might otherwise have had?
08:41Every player who gets tested positive has to go through the same process. There is no
08:47shortcut, there is no different treatment. They're all the same process. Why I kept playing,
08:54I just explained now. That's all I have to say. I know sometimes the frustration of other
09:03players obviously, but maybe because they got suspended they didn't know exactly where
09:09it comes from, also what substance, but the main reason is where it comes from and how
09:15it entered in his own system. We knew it straight away and we were aware of what happened. We
09:23went straight away and I was suspended for two or three days. I couldn't practice and
09:29everything but they accepted it very, very fast and that's why.
09:33Willie, last question.
09:35What concerns do you have about your reputation?
09:39That's a good question. For me, I always believe that I kept playing tennis because in my mind
09:50I knew that I haven't done anything wrong. I knew that I was very clean and I knew that
09:56I was always very looking forward to being a fair player. Obviously, it's coming out,
10:03this notification, it might change a couple of things, but whoever knows me very well
10:13knows that I haven't done and I would never do something that goes against the rules.
10:19Obviously, it has been a very tough moment for me and my team. It still is because it's
10:25quite fresh, this everything. Here I also know who is my friend and who is not my friend
10:37because my friends know that I would never do that. Sticking together and about the reputation
10:44we will see now moving forward. I can't really control it, so let's see.