Jimmy Connors offers a doomed view of what might happen with Jannik Sinner
By Lee Vowell
Jannik Sinner failed two drug tests in March at Indian Wells, and he was not suspended. He was able to show his innocence to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) and the only thing he lost was the ranking points from the tournament and the money he won. Otherwise, he was free to keep playing.
That might have been the end of the Sinner ordeal, but it wasn't. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) contesting Sinner's lack of suspension. WADA wants Sinner banned for as much as two years. That would be the same kind of ban handed down to other players and less than what was given to Simona Halep initially when she was suspended for four years.
Sinner is the top-ranked player on the ATP and won two Grand Slams in 2024. He is one of the most popular players on the tour and has a reputation for being a very nice person. Some have already become skeptical of him, such as Nick Kyrgios, since Sinner failed drug tests but got away with no discipline. Should he be suspended, the popularity of tennis would likely suffer.
Jimmy Connors worries about the future of tennis should Jannik Sinner be suspended
That is what former No. 1 Jimmy Connors thinks. He has now turned into a podcast host of his own show called Advantage Connors, and he is not afraid to speak his mind. In other words, he is much like he was when he was playing.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Connors said, "...all I know is that I don’t think tennis at that level could survive that to (suspend) a top player. (Tennis officials) have shown in the past that they are not afraid to hit lower-ranked players and discard them from the game. But I don’t know if tennis at (Sinner's) level could take it."
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What exactly does that mean, however? Fewer fans at tournaments? Fewer people watching on streaming and television? That could mean less money for players and fewer tournaments for fans to see.
The hope, of course, since Sinner has already been found innocent by the ITIA, is that he will also be found innocent by the CAS. Anything else would require the top-ranked player to miss a lot of time and then forever be doubted when he does return. Instead of a new Big 2 of Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner, Alcaraz would likely rule tennis for the next decade. That kind of domination does not bring a lot of new fans to tennis either.
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