Sinner has staunchly maintained his innocence but the story has become a major talking point entering the US Open. However, he brushed off the potential distraction to beat Mackenzie McDonald in his first-round match on Arthur Ashe.

After losing the first set, he won 2-6 6-2 6-1 6-1. Yet attention again turned to the off-court noise in his post-match press conference, and he was asked how the locker room has reacted to the news.

“Yeah, there are some reaction,” Sinner admitted. “You know, I cannot really control what they think and what they talk. You know, that's how everything went and how it was, I already talk, no?

“I cannot control the players' reaction, and if I have something to say to someone, I go there privately, because I'm this kind of person. But, look, overall, it has been not bad. So I'm happy about that.”

Daniil Medvedev was the latest player to be asked for his verdict on the Sinner situation after his first-round match. The Russian beat Dusan Lajovic 3-6 6-3 3-6 1-6 before weighing in on the saga surrounding one of his main rivals for the title.

Medvedev said “I think my perspective is a little bit -- I think I saw Taylor (Fritz), and I really like what he said. He said, Look, it's only him who knows what happened exactly, so we cannot know. Nobody can know like the exact truth except him, his team, and maybe the guys who, like, the independent tribunal.

“I hope this situation can be the same for every player, like every player can defend himself, because I think what he did wasn't within the rules. It's just the rules are a little bit vague, et cetera.

“For me the only thing where I'm a little bit, like, doping cases make me scared is imagine -- so he knew what happened, and good for him, so he managed to defend himself. Imagine whatever tennis player in the top 100 gets an email, and they say, Look, there was cocaine in your blood.

“You come to them and you say, Well, I never did anything in my life. I don't know how did it get there. When you don't know, you get suspended. That's a little bit the tricky part, but that's how, yeah, doping rules are.

“It's okay. You go with it. As I said, I just hope it's the same treatment for every player.”