“Mature young man” Jannik Sinner’s response to doping ban critics has been revealed by his coach, Darren Cahill.

World No 1 Sinner is currently serving a three-month suspension after settling his doping case with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following months of controversy.

The Italian was found to be of “no fault” by the International Tennis Integrity Agency in August 2024, having twice tested positive for banned steroid clostebol in March 2024.

Sinner successfully argued that he had accidently been contaminated by a team member, who had used a medical spray containing clostebol to treat a cut on his finger before massaging the 23-year-old.

WADA announced an appeal of this ruling in September 2024 and came to a settlement with Sinner in February 2025.

Sinner’s case has attracted a huge amount of controversy across the tennis world, with a lack of transparency and alleged preferential treatment of top players among the main concerns raised.

The three-time Grand Slam champion himself has faced intense criticism from some ATP players, most notably former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios.

Sinner has refrained from publicly commenting on any criticism since his suspension was announced on February 15th, though Cahill has now offered up some intriguing insight on the Italian’s mindset.

Speaking on the Tennis Insider Club podcast, the Australian revealed Sinner was feeling positive despite the ban – and had a bullish approach to dealing with his critics.

Cahill said: “This is what he loves doing, this is his purpose in life, to get up there and compete and play hard and enjoy himself so it has been remarkable.

“I think he gave me this quote, I didn’t tell him this quote, this is coming from a 23-year-old. Because we have been talking about all the noise, some from players, some from coaches, some from the media around his particular case.

“His is an involuntary contamination, so a lot of the times you return a positive test is from medicine or supplements. So it’s voluntary contamination. There is always a ban that applies to that, whether it’s one month or a little longer.

“His is involuntary and not only is it involuntary but it’s from a person who gave a spray to treat to physio for a cut finger and somehow that got pushed across to Jannik.

“But he said to me the other day: ‘Don’t concern yourself with the criticism of someone you wouldn’t take advice from.’

“I am looking at him thinking: ‘Are you 23 years of age?’ I know that’s a quote that is out there, but to come from him, it’s like: ‘Okay, let’s move on.’

“He is a mature young man, he is a good young man, and I know Italy is very proud of him – and they should be.”

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Sinner will miss four Masters 1000 events during his suspension, including the upcoming Indian Wells Open and his Miami Open title defence.

However, the world No 1 will be back for his home event at the Italian Open in Rome, which begins shortly after his suspension concludes on May 4th.

That will enable Sinner to play at least one tournament before the second Grand Slam event of the year at Roland Garros.

This season is set to be Sinner’s last working with Cahill, who announced back in January that he would step back from coaching in 2025.

The Australian has previously worked with the likes of Simona Halep, Andre Agassi, and Lleyton Hewitt.

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