Daniil Medvedev admits to being “fearful” when speaking out about Jannik Sinner doping case

Daniil Medvedev has said he hopes players will receive “the same treatment” in future doping cases after admitting he was “scared” of the rules.

The rules surrounding doping bans have been a hotly debated topic in tennis since it was announced last week that Jannik Sinner failed two doping tests in March.

The world number one was found “not guilty” and did not have to fear a ban despite his two positive clostebol tests; the ITIA accepted the Australian Open winner's explanation of contamination.

The news about Sinner has provoked opinions from all sides, with many players wondering why the Italian was able to continue playing during the investigation while others were unable to take to the pitch for long periods of time.

Among those wading into the debate at the US Open is 2021 champion Medvedev, the man Sinner defeated in Melbourne earlier this year to take the title.

Medvedev did not accuse Sinner of wrongdoing, but admitted he was “afraid” of the rules and expressed a wish that future doping cases would be handled in the same way.

“I think my perspective is a little different,” said the former world number 1.

“I think I saw Taylor (Fritz) and I really like what he said. He said, 'Look, only he knows what exactly happened, so we can't know. Nobody can know the exact truth except him, his team and maybe the people running the independent tribunal.'

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“I hope that this situation is the same for every player, that every player can defend himself, because I think that what he did was not within the rules. It's just that the rules are a bit vague, etc.

“The only thing that scares me a little bit about doping cases is imagining it – so he knew what happened and good for him that he managed to defend himself.

“Imagine a top 100 tennis player gets an email saying, 'You have cocaine in your system.' You come to him and say, 'I've never done anything in my life. I don't know how this happened.'

“If you don't know, you'll be suspended. That's a bit of a tricky part, but that's the way the doping rules are.”

“It's okay. You have to live with it. Like I said, I just hope that every player is treated equally.”

Medvedev survived a small scare to reach the second round in New York, where he hopes to do better than his runner-up finish in 2023.

The fifth-seeded tennis player defeated Dusan Lajovic in four sets and will face Fabian Marozsan in the second round for his second major title.

Meanwhile, Sinner also won in four sets earlier in his campaign, coming from a set down to defeat Mackenzie McDonald to secure a second-round clash against Alex Michelsen.

Similar to Wimbledon, Medvedev and Sinner are in the same quarter and are expected to meet in the quarterfinals.

Read more: US Open – The 4 defending champions lose in round 1, while Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff escape the fate of Emma Raducanu