Roger Federer understands the frustration over the Jannik Sinner doping case

NEW YORK — Roger Federer said Jannik Sinner’s doping case raises questions about whether the current No. 1 tennis player should have been allowed to continue competing until he graduated of the intentional use of an anabolic steroid for which he tested positive twice in March.

“It’s not something we want to see in our sport, these types of news, whether he did something or not. Or any player did it. It’s just noise that we don’t want. I understand the frustration: He was treated the same like others and I think that’s what it all comes down to in the end, he didn’t do anything,” Federer said in an appearance on the “Today” show to promote a photo book of him. “But the inconsistency, potentially, that he he didn’t have to sit out while they weren’t 100 percent sure what was going on — I think that’s the question that needs to be answered.”

Hours later on Tuesday night, Federer received a warm ovation from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd when he was introduced during the second set of the US Open quarter-final between Aryna Sabalenka and Qinwen Zheng.

Federer smiled and waved as he was shown on the video boards in the arena.

It was the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s first visit to the venue since he stopped competing. Federer announced his retirement in 2022; he played his last official match at Wimbledon the year before.

He is the last man to win back-to-back US Open titles, racking up five in a row from 2004 to 2008.

Several top players were asked about Sinner, who is set to face 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the Grand Slam quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal told a Spanish television show on Monday that he did not believe Sinner had received preferential treatment.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said on August 20 that it had been determined that the banned performance-enhancing agent had accidentally entered Sinner’s system through a massage from his physiotherapist, and therefore the player was not suspended.

“I understand the frustration: was he treated the same as others?… We all have enough confidence in the end, he didn’t do anything. But the inconsistency, potentially, that he didn’t have to sit out. although they weren’t 100 percent sure what was going on, I think that’s the question that needs to be answered.”

Roger Federer

Asked about the issue in New York before the start of the US Open, Novak Djokovic said he understands why some tennis players wonder if there is a double standard in the sport.

“It’s a difficult situation and it’s every athlete’s and every team’s nightmare to have these allegations and these problems,” Federer said, adding: “We have to trust the process and everyone involved.”

Federer said he had recently spoken to Nadal, his long-time on-court rival and off-court friend, who is 38 and has played sparingly over the past two seasons due to injuries, including hip surgery last year. He is out of the US Open.

There are questions about whether Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, will return to the tournament.

“He can do whatever he wants,” Federer said. “He was one of the most iconic tennis players we’ve ever had in our sport…I just hope he can take it on his terms and the way he wants to.”