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Jannik Sinner rehires fitness coach Umberto Ferrara following doping scandal.
Following a decisive win over Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Jannik Sinner has rehired fitness coach Umberto Ferrara, whom he parted ways with last year following his high-profile doping case.
Leading up to this year’s Grand Slam at SW19, Sinner notably parted ways with fitness coach Marco Panichi and physio Ulises Badio, both of whom were hired to replace Ferrara and Giacomo Naldi, who was serving as the world No. 1’s physio at the time of the scandal.
Now, ahead of the US Open in August, Italian reporter Giovanni Pelazzo is reporting that Sinner’s team is rehiring Ferrara.
A press release relayed by Pelazzo reads:
“Jannik Sinner has re-appointed Umberto Ferrara as his athletic trainer with immediate effect. The decision was made together with Jannik’s management as part of the ongoing preparation for upcoming tournaments, including Cincinnati and the US Open. Umberto played an important role in Jannik’s growth and his return reflects a renewed focus on continuity and performance at the highest levels”.
While Sinner withdrew from the National Bank Open, which is set to begin on Jul. 26, Ferrera will have a chance to help the world No. 1 prepare to defend his title in Cincinnati next month.
Looking Back at Umberto Ferrara’s Role in Jannik Sinner’s Doping Case
When news broke of Jannik Sinner testing positive for trace amounts of clostebol, an anabolic steroid, the world No. 1 was initially cleared after it was determined that the exposure was the result of Naldi applying a product that contained the banned substance to a cut on his finger, and then subsequently working on Sinner without wearing gloves.
Ferrara, as it turns out, was the one who purchased the product in Italy, where clostebol is legal and oftentimes used in topical creams and sprays. Because of that, a slew of young athletes from Italy and Brazil, two countries where clostebol is found in pharmaceutical products, have tested positive over the years, not just Sinner.
An HonestSport deep-dive from before Sinner’s scandal shed light on notable cases such as Italian junior tennis player Matilde Paoletti’s from 2021, who tested positive for clostebol after petting her dog, who had a wound being treated with a spray containing the anabolic steroid.
Her case, along with numerous others such as Olimpia Milano basketball standout Riccardo Moraschini, who was exposed to clostebol via a spray his girlfriend was using on a cut she sustained while cooking, helped Sinner’s team make the case for accidental contamination, and helped the world No. 1 avoid a lengthy suspension.
Images From Indian Wells 2024 Corroborate Sinner’s Defense in Doping Case
Despite previous examples of athletes testing positive for trace amounts of clostebol due to accidental exposure, many fans have remained skeptical of Sinner’s defense.
Back in August of 2024, when news of Sinner’s pair of failed tests earlier in the season hit the web, r/Tennis on Reddit, and veteran reporter Ben Rothenberg, who hosts the NCR Tennis Podcast, went back to replays of the Indian Wells tournament in March, when Sinner first tested positive.
As it turns out, Giacomo Naldi’s finger was only seen bandaged once throughout the tournament. The rest of the days, including on Mar. 10, when Sinner failed his first test, there was no bandage.
While Ferrara’s role in the case is secondary to Naldi’s, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out during the American hard court swing.
Evan Bell Evan Bell is a sports journalist covering MMA for Heavy.com. He has been covering the UFC since 2011, with bylines dating back to before the UFC implemented its own rankings in 2013. More about Evan Bell
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