Jannik Sinner is the classic example of double standards in tennis, making Novak Djokovic’s legacy even greater

How the media's portrayal of Novak Djokovic's injury contrasts sharply with its treatment of Jannik Sinner's doping case, revealing a clear double standard in tennis narratives.

Jannik Sinner is the classic example of double standards in tennis, making Novak Djokovic’s legacy even greater

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner. A clear case how bias in tennis plays. (Image via ATP/X)

Novak Djokovic had safely negotiated himself through the first week of the Australian Open and impressive wins against Top 30 players Tomas Machac and Jiri Lehecka signaled his intent to win his 11th Australian Open as he was ominously moving up the gears.

The mouth watering and most anticipated Quarter Final was upon us the 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic vs. four time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz. The match lived up to expectations, Alcaraz striking first and taking the first set but then Djokovic roaring back with a high-quality vintage performance and deservedly taking the win 3-1.

During the course of the match and towards the end of the first set, Djokovic pulled up suddenly with what looked like a sharp and sudden injury and grimaced in pain. Djokovic immediately asked the umpire for a physio and had to take a medical time out he was given painkillers and likely anti inflammatories to try and cope with the immense pain he was feeling. Djokovic said later that he was on the verge of retiring but the combination of painkillers and no doubt some adrenaline meant Djokovic was somehow able to play through the pain and went onto win the match.

Djokovic could have expected the media world to fawn over his impressive victory and how brave he was, but instead the response from most of the establishment media was to question his injury and state that it was just a ploy to distract Alcaraz. This wasn’t helped when John McEnroe on air stated, “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine, don’t be fooled.” Many other media outlets followed in the same vein and the public perception was being shaped to believe that he may have feigned his injury.

Djokovic had two days to prepare for his semi-final match but he was not seen on the practice court as he canceled both of his scheduled sessions. He took to the practice court just an hour before the start of the Alexander Zverev match and was spotted with a large support on his leg.

Djokovic bravely started the first set against Zverev but it was apparent his mobility just wasn’t there, his serve speed was considerably lower and he was visibly grimacing on some of the points. Djokovic lost a grueling one hour and twenty-minute set on the tiebreak and told the umpire he could unfortunately no longer continue.

The Serbian great, a 10-time winner of the Australian Open, may have been a little disappointed to hear a chorus of boos from a small section of the crowd, were they angry that the match finished early, or had their perception been changed by the media who had been falsely insinuating that he had a habit of feigning injuries when losing? Either way, it is disrespectful to the player who has won the Australian Open more times than any other player.

The very same establishment media that had created the perception of him faking injuries were now focussed on the small amount of boos aimed at Djokovic. The initial questioning of his injury, which had likely led to the boos, was now ironically the focus of the media attention, but the damage had been done.

Djokovic is no stranger to the establishment media constantly vilifying him and painting him as the bad guy and he was disappointed to hear some boos and told Tennis Majors journalist Sasa Ozmo –

I don’t know what to say… I am doing my best to understand them, but I am not sure whether they understand me or if they even want to understand me. I know how my body works what I feel and I’ve known how much I’ve given to this tournament in the past 20 plus years.

Novak Djokovic said

Djokovic will also remember in 2022 that many of the establishment media all combined in vilifying him for not getting vaccinated and even questioned if he was in Australia lawfully. Djokovic was forced to put out a medical report that he was indeed Covid positive in the last six months and therefore was rightly issued with a medical exemption and was in Australia lawfully.

Novak Djokovic (9)
Novak Djokovic giving thumbs up to the booing fans at 2025 Australian Open (Image via Screengrab/X)

However the media had already turned public perception against him, so much so that the government had to intervene with their own legal courts who had adjudicated that he was in Australia lawfully. However, despite this ruling, they still decided to deport him on a special government exemption for invoking “anti vaccine sentiment” in Australia. This is despite Djokovic never stating he was against the Covid vaccine only that he was an advocate for freedom of choice in medical choices.

Djokovic this time was not going to put up with any establishment media manipulations and propaganda that questioned his integrity and decided to put out a tweet on X, with his MRI scan confirming that he was indeed actually injured and appeared to have a large hamstring tear; Djokovic wrote, “Thought I’d leave this here for all the sports injury “experts” out there.”

The establishment/legacy media plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception on matters. They are more influential now as social media means they can reach much bigger audiences much faster and easier than before.

But this problem isn’t new. Malcolm X was a famous and well-respected African-American Human Rights Activist in the 1950s and 60s. He wrote this about the media at the time; “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent.”

Jannik Sinner is a prime example that rules aren’t the same for everyone

This leads to the public perception of the winner of the 2025 Australian Open and Current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Sinner is sponsored by some very powerful and influential companies, such as Nike, Rolex, and Gucci.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X)

In August 2024, the tennis world was shocked to hear that the World No. 1 Jannik Sinner had failed two drug tests and had tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug with the name of Clostebol. This is a form of an anabolic steroid, which a number of athletes have been banned for taking in sports recently.

Even more surprisingly, Sinner was given the all-clear by the Tennis funded ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency.) They announced that they had cleared Sinner of any fault or negligence in failing the drug tests. They had believed a rather dubious story of Sinner being contaminated via a massage from his Physio at the time, Giacomo Naldi who was using a spray called Trofodermin (which had cleared labeled was a doping risk) he used it for eight days for a small cut on his finger.

The story was made even more questionable when they advised the ITIA that the spray belonged to Umberto Ferrara, who was Sinner’s fitness coach at the time and also ironically the person who was tasked to look after all of Sinner’s anti-doping controls.

In October, the tennis world was stunned again when the premier anti-doping agency in the world, WADA, reviewed the ITIA decision and decided to appeal against it, stating they felt Sinner and or his team had been negligent in getting transmitted and requested that the CAS; Court arbitration of sport (the highest sports court in the world) ban him for a period of 1-2 years for committing two anti-doping offenses.

Two weeks ago, CAS confirmed that the WADA made the thresholds for a hearing and confirmed a court date of April 16th, 2025. This was pretty significant news in tennis. WADA had never ever previously appealed an ITIA decision and CAS felt their evidence was sufficient for a court hearing to be held.

Let’s, however, contrast the establishment media reaction to this news. Would they look to vilify and question Sinner like they have done almost constantly throughout Djokovic’s career?

No, in fact, it was almost the opposite they continued to constantly praise and promote Sinner and many of them even referred to him as being a role model and inspiration despite having this court hearing on his shoulders and WADA confirming that he should be suspended for committing anti-doping offenses. Whilst WADA confirmed they had no evidence to suggest Sinner was intentionally doping, they felt that some negligence had occurred from either himself or his team.

The establishment media barely spoke about the case during the duration of the Australian Open, but lavished him with praise and the public perception of him was therefore positive, and he enjoyed a warm crowd reception throughout. Mark Petchey, a prominent journalist who was very vocal during Novak Djokovic’s time in Australia in 2022 and pushing for him to get vaccinated or “face the consequences”, took the opposite view on Sinner and said he didn’t want him to get banned and that the tennis he is playing is a joy to watch.

The question is, what would the media have done if the roles were reversed and it was Djokovic who had failed drug tests and WADA confirmed he had committed anti-doping offenses? The abhorrent treatment of the establishment media towards Djokovic in Australia 2022, which ultimately led to public outrage and ended with him being deported by the Australian government, should give you that answer.

It seems Djokovic got more criticism for not taking a brand new drug in the form of a Covid vaccine, than Sinner did for failing two drug tests for a performance-enhancing substance.

Make of that what you will, but there’s no doubt in my opinion that the establishment media have an influential role in shaping public perceptions.