The skies are blue and the sun is unapologetically brazen, not uncommon in the Antipodes this time of the year. Melbourne Park, the sprawling grounds of the Happy Slam, overlooks the Yarra, gliding gently alongside a shimmering carpet.
The Australian Open, starting Sunday, is held far from the ructions of a world in a twirl, but even thousands of aeronautical miles isn’t quite far enough for tennis, struggling to move forward from issues of the past year. Ostensibly, a pair of gold standard 23-year-olds, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and five-time major winner Iga Swiatek, returned positive tests that rocked the core of the game.
Sinner, the Australian Open’s defending champion tested positive for clostebol last March. An independent panel, which was presented the case by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, ruled there was ‘no fault or negligence’ on the part of the Italian.
The verdict that Sinner bore no fault didn’t sit well with the World Anti-Doping Agency, who in the era of XXL entourages, harps on independent thinking, especially with all that athletes put in their system. Not even a billionth of a gram.
WADA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Italian faces a potential ban of up to two years. The hearing could be slated for February after the conclusion of the first major of the year, but there could be appeals at a higher port, the Swiss Tribunal.
Swiatek, the four-time Roland Garros champion, tested positive for trimetazidine in August. The sleep medication she was taking was contaminated.
Tennis couldn’t have imagined a darker quandary in the New Year, given that the younger generation of champions had served notice of a new order last season.