“All I need is clean air.” – Annenberg Media

Less than five days after winning the Cincinnati Open title, Jannik Sinner was involved in a doping scandal and subsequently separated from his coach and physiotherapist.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for the 2024 Australian Open champion, as the US Open began on Monday with Sinner as one of the favorites. Given his dominant performance in Cincinnati earlier this month, he would likely have been the favorite. Now, instead of riding that momentum into the final major of the year, he must play with a scandal in the back of his mind and new coaches at his side.

But Sinner, now 23, is probably old enough to handle being the center of attention on his own.

During his six years on the ATP Tour, he has never been a player who relied heavily on his coach’s encouragement or tactical advice. He plays with a certain stoicism. Sinner’s only moment of celebration in the Cincinnati semifinal against Alexander Zverev came right after match point, when he let out all the emotions that had built up during the three-hour, eight-minute battle. The match proved that despite a hip injury – which appears to be more serious than initially thought – Sinner can and will fight to the end.

The similarities between the two are there: they hit winners out of nowhere, have the stamina to play for hours and endure rallies that seem to never end. Sinner’s energy and playing style are not much different from his teammate Carlos Alcaraz, but unlike his Spanish rival, Sinner does not show much emotion. Sinner, however, seems to inherit a trait from Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam winner: nobody knows what is going on in his head.

Djokovic is the type of player who seems invincible on an emotional level. There may be the occasional tussle with the umpire or argument with a linesman, but whether he wins or loses, Djokovic almost never lets his opponent have the mental upper hand. Sinner is developing into a player with the same kind of positive arrogance that he will need more than ever at Flushing Meadows.

However, the doping scandal itself shows how important it is for athletes to be able to appear confident in public.

The media tends to focus most of its coverage on the most famous athletes because that’s who the fans want to see the most. From a viewership perspective, this makes sense, but for athletes who have never dealt with this kind of attention before, it can be overwhelming and devastating to their careers if they don’t learn how to handle it.

Sinner’s fellow Italian and athletics superstar Marcell Jacobs is a prominent example of this from the past four years. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Jacobs surprised the field by winning gold in the men’s 100m final. This made him a sensation, gaining access to red carpets and appearing in sports documentaries. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of fame and luxury, and Jacobs earned it the hard way.

But he hasn’t been the same since. The more he exposed his life to the world, the less successful he was, and the reigning gold medalist failed to make it to the podium in Paris this summer. The 29-year-old may be too old for his peak performance, but there’s no denying that the media attention had something to do with the drop in performance.

In America, numerous sportspeople have followed a similar path. Johnny “Football” Manziel was supposed to be the face of the NFL, but outside influences and his inability to focus on developing his game got in the way. While the reasons for these athletes’ downfall vary, the pressure of being a big name in the sport can weigh heavily on an athlete.

For Sinner, popularity won’t be too much any time soon, but incidents like last week’s can’t happen too often if he wants to keep his cool. Any unnecessary media attention is the last thing he needs, as he is still in the developing phase of his career. If Sinner wants to be one of the greats, he needs to focus solely on his game.

2024 is just the beginning for him, and given his maturation over the past few years, fans don’t have to worry about Sinner disappearing anytime soon.