Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner of San Candido, Italy has made an interesting decision regarding his fitness coach. Sinner has brought back Umberto Ferrara according to the Associated Press on Wednesday. The reason why this decision is interesting is because Ferrara was Sinner’s fitness coach when he tested positive for a banned substance at Indian Wells in 2024.
Sinner removed fitness coach Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio after the French Open, which was won by world number two Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. According to Simone Brugnoli of Tennis World USA, Sinner was disturbed that Panichi revealed to the public that Sinner was upset in the Roland Garros locker room following his fifth set defeat a month ago. Panichi and Badio were hired by Sinner after the Italian won the 2024 United States Open.
It is interesting that Sinner did not have a fitness coach or physiotherapist when he won Wimbledon earlier this month. It should be noted that Sinner still does not have a physiotherapist, and that it was Sinner’s former physiotherapist, Giancarlo Naldi, who applied an over-the-counter spray that contained a banned substance according to the British Broadcasting Corporation. According to the same BBC report, it was Ferrara who allegedly supplied the substance to Naldi.
Now the question is by Sinner bringing Ferrara back, will it hurt his image based on what we know. My answer is it might, when the belief by many is that Sinner should have been suspended more than three months earlier this year.
It will be interesting to see if Sinner competes in Cincinnati. He has already withdrawn from the Canadian Open in Toronto next week due to a hand injury. Other players who have withdrawn from the National Bank Open over the last 24 hours are American Tommy Paul, Italian Matteo Berrettini, and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
