Doping rows take sheen off stellar season

Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek enjoyed a trophy-laden 2024, but rather than ending the year basking in glory, they were instead fighting for their reputations after receiving only minor reprimands for failing dope tests.

The two cases shocked the tennis world, with many fuming at how they were handled by the authorities.

Players and pundits accused those overseeing tennis' anti-doping program of double standards, as they felt Sinner and Swiatek, who were both ranked No 1 at the time of their respective failed tests, had received preferential treatment.

Rattled by two failed drug tests in March for trace amounts of the anabolic androgenic steroid clostebol, Sinner endured sleepless nights over fears that a ban could stall his career, before being cleared of wrongdoing by an independent tribunal that accepted his explanation of unintentional contamination.

However, the men's world No 1 will go into the 2025 season facing a possible ban of up to two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency lodged an appeal with sport's highest court.

"It's in the head a little bit," Sinner admitted. "The most important thing is the people who are around me, who know me as a human being, trust me.

"That's also why I kept playing at the level I did. I was emotionally a bit down, a bit heartbroken. Sometimes, life gives you difficulties and you just have to deal with it."

Sinner captured his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open to split the majors with Carlos Alcaraz.

Sinner also won the ATP Finals trophy before masterminding Italy's successful Davis Cup defense.

Triumphs in Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and Shanghai meant Sinner had more titles than his six defeats, but the doping saga put an asterisk on a stunning season, in which he sparked a seismic shift atop the men's game to shut out Novak Djokovic.