While the world number one has done nothing but solidify his status as the ATP’s best tennis player, 2024 has been a year of significant highs and lows.

Bookending the year with his first two Grand Slam titles has brought his trophy tally to seven for the year, with recent Masters wins in Cincinnati and Shanghai.

However, after success in the mid-west, the tennis world was shocked to find out about Jannik Sinner’s failed drugs test back in March.

The Italian twice tested positive for banned substance clostebol but was initially freed of any blame and punishment by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).

Despite this, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to re-open the case – the first time WADA has launched an appeal against a case led by the ITIA – creating more angst for the world number one.

Jannik Sinner recalls moment he found out about his positive drugs test

The news of a positive test certainly didn’t waylay Sinner’s ambitions on court, with the Italian only defeated once since the news broke in August.

However, with the luxury of hindsight, many have looked back on the year to pick apart some of the Italian’s mannerisms and struggles on the court – these mostly being health difficulties over the summer.

Speaking out about hearing the news, Sinner revealed the shock and sadness he felt.

“I don’t wish anyone to go through what I went through,” he said. “I was in Monte Carlo and Alex Vittur (Sinner’s manager) called me and said ‘Jannik, you’re positive’. I replied ‘yes Alex, I’m always positive’. And he said ‘no Jannik, you’re positive for doping’.

“I had a moment of total darkness, I didn’t know what to say. Nothing came out of my mouth,” Sinner explained. “I immediately tried to understand how it could have happened, I hadn’t done anything. I didn’t even want to believe it: I felt lost.”

Unable to share the news with anyone except his close team, Sinner said: “It was tough. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it, those who knew me and saw me play noticed that something was wrong.

“At Wimbledon I was white on the court, but even afterwards I was scared… in Cincinnati I went to the club and wondered: ‘How will the other players look at me? What will they think of me?’ That’s when I really understood who my friends are.”

Indeed, there was an immediate outpouring of reaction from many of his ATP tour mates, with some choosing to speak more diplomatically, while others opted for a different approach.

Much of the anguish from players was due to the way Sinner’s case had been dealt with compared to lower-ranked, and lower-profile players – arguably a legitimate grievance.

However Nick Kyrgios has not stopped criticising Sinner, with repeated speculation over his innocence.

Jannik Sinner has maintained remarkable composure amid such controversy

Sinner has shown remarkable poise despite a season filled with challenges and controversy.

He’s lost just one of his last 26 matches, securing major victories at the US Open, Shanghai Masters, and most recently, the inaugural Six Kings Slam exhibition where he avenged that earlier loss to Carlos Alcaraz.

Though he’s faced a few setbacks with illness and injury, his level of tennis has been unmatched, making him the favorite heading into the ATP Finals.

Many now see him as the player to beat on hard courts, with the world number one in a strong position for another deep run at the Australian Open – providing there are no developments in his case that prevent this.

Sinner’s consistency towards the back-end of 2024 – domination he also showed this time last year – have firmly established him as one of the game’s new hard-court kings.

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