ROME — ROME (AP) — Jannik Sinner considered leaving tennis entirely earlier this year before he accepted a three-month ban in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency.Asked during an interview with Italian state TV RAI if he ever thought about quitting, the top-ranked Sinner replied, “Yes.“I remember before the Australian Open this year, it wasn’t a very happy time,” Sinner added. “I didn’t really feel comfortable in the locker room, where we were eating. Players were looking at me differently. I said to myself, ‘Maybe I need to take some time off after Australia.’ I didn’t want (the ban) though.”Sinner won his second straight Australian Open title in January.It wasn’t until February that the settlement was made in the doping case, after WADA appealed a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency to fully exonerate Sinner for what it deemed to be an accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid in March, 2024.“I had a tough time accepting these three months. Because I knew that I didn’t do anything wrong. So why do I have to pay this price?” Sinner said. “But then we discussed it with my lawyer and about what could have happened in the worst-case scenario and so we decided to accept it.”The handling of Sinner’s case had raised questions about double standards. The positive tests weren’t publicly revealed until August because Sinner s …
