Liam Broady has slammed what he perceives to be preferential treatment afforded to Jannik Sinner to protect the Italian’s ‘image’. Last week, world No 1 Sinner was cleared of any wrongdoing despite twice testing positive for a banned substance in March.

A probe found the 23-year-old had been contaminated with the banned substance clostebol after his physio used a wound-healing spray on himself before massaging the tennis player without wearing gloves. Sinner has always maintained his innocence.

The verdict has split opinion among the tennis community and Broady was left baffled by Sinner’s sit-down interview with ESPN ahead of the US Open. As part of the conversation, Sinner insists he has not been treated differently to other players.

Broady mocked the ‘presidential sit-down’ nature of the interview and claimed that it was conducted to maintain the Australian Open champion’s ‘image’.

He wrote on X: “Not treated differently from other players but gets curated, presidential sit-down interviews with ESPN to maintain image. Where’s this energy for everybody else? Never seen anything like this.”

An Australian fan responded to Broady by joking that if he ever failed a drugs test, he could appear on Channel 9. But the 30-year-old responded with a laughing emoji and wrote: “I wouldn’t be on any channels because I’d be banned for two to four years.”

Sinner has since sacked his physio Giacomo Naldi and his fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara. He confirmed both individuals had left his team ahead of the US Open.

Speaking to ESPN, Sinner accepts that he had the resources to fight a successful legal battle. He said: “It’s about the position you are in. Being where I am, I have the ability to take qualified people. Obviously, if this happens to a different player, it’s going to be different.

“But, again, I was treated like everyone else. The reason I was able to carry on playing is because we knew how it entered my system and where the clostebol was from. It was in the spray.

“All things considered, I haven’t had a different treatment. The process was very long and it went with a bigger weight towards them. You still don’t know what’s going to come out. It was a not easy experience for me.”

Sinner begins his US Open campaign against Mackenzie McDonald on Tuesday. He has had a successful year, winning the Australian Open before reaching the quarter-final and semi-final of the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively.