Tennis News: Chris Evert, John McEnroe and Danielle Collins

Tennis fans were shocked to learn that ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner had tested positive for the banned substance clostebol twice in nine days in March of this year. Possibly more surprising was that Sinner was not suspended for the positive tests. The question could be asked if Sinner might have been immediately suspended had he been ranked No. 300 in the world.

That isn't meant to imply that the Italian is guilty of intentionally taking the steroid that is designed to help build muscle mass, but even taking the substance unintentionally can lead to a long ban from the sport. This is what happened when Simona Halep tested positive for traces of Roxadustat in her system. She was handed a four-year ban.

Halep maintained her innocence and she was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, though she missed more than a year of playing. Sinner did not miss any time after testing positive and most of the tennis world did not know about it until five months after the positive tests.

Chris Evert and John McEnroe discuss the Jannik Sinner situation and Danielle Collins slaps back

Ahead of the US Open, Chris Evert and John McEnroe were speaking to the media when the situation about Sinner was asked. Evert said the bad part out loud, and she was completely truthful. Had Sinner not been No. 1, he likely would have been suspended.

Evert said, "I do think that (tennis officials) protect the top players. So by protecting I mean: they’re gonna keep it secret for a couple of months. They’re going to keep certain things secret—if you're a top player—because they don’t want the press, the players don’t want the press. It’s all going to come out in three months anyway. So I do think there is some protection there than if you were Joe Smith ranked 400 in the world."

McEnroe echoed Evert but did bring up the similarities between Sinner and Halep's positive test and the differences between how tennis officials reacted to the tests.

McEnroe said, "I don’t know how they differentiate between one person saying he was unaware of it and someone else who says the same thing gets suspended. I think Halep said that and she was suspended for 18 months and Sinner said he unknowingly had this and then he’s not suspended. So clearly from the players’ standpoint, you want it to be sort of uniform."

In completely different news, Danielle Collins is playing her final year of professional tennis and having arguably her best season ever. She is on track to play in the WTA Finals at the end of the year, an event she has never played in.

One of the best things about Collins has been her feistiness on the court. She certainly is not one to hold her tongue when she feels wronged. She also doesn't mind interacting with the crowd both positively and negatively.

In her most recent tournament in Monterrey, and in the third set of her round of 16 match, a spectator said something loudly between points. Collins was not going to let the disrespect go, however. She said, without staring directly at anyone in the crowd, "What in the world? I don’t get it. It’s not that hard to let us play tennis and be supportive." Good for her.

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