The world’s best tennis player, Italian superstar Jannik Sinner, is set to compete in the US Open this year. The tournament begins this Thursday.

There was no guarantee that Sinner would advance to the final major of the year.

After winning his final title of 2024, the ATP 1000 Cincinnati Open, on Monday, it was revealed, according to CNN’s Jill Martin, that Sinner twice tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol, which is banned by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The world No. 1 first tested positive during a March 10 collection in Indian Wells. He was tested again eight days later and again a small dose of the substance was detected.

The ITIA announced that Sinner had been given the green light to participate in further tennis activities, citing “no fault or negligence” on his part.

In response to the breaking news, Sinner released a press release via his official X-account, claiming that his test came back positive due to “accidental contamination with clostebol” as part of his physiotherapist’s treatment plan. He pointed out that the “trace element” detected was “less than a billionth of a gram” of the banned substance.

“His fitness coach bought a product that is available over the counter in any Italian pharmacy and gave it to Jannik’s physiotherapist so that he could treat a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger,” the statement said.

“Jannik was unaware of this and his physiotherapist was unaware that he was using a product containing clostebol,” the statement continued. “The physiotherapist treated Jannik without gloves and caused the unintentional contamination along with various skin injuries on Jannik’s body.”

Sinner has had quite a fate in recent months. The 23-year-old had to cancel his participation in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris due to persistent tonsillitis.

Read more: Olympic news: Tennis superstar cancels games in Paris

In his place, world number two Novak Djokovic, who has won the most singles titles of all time in the men’s tournament with 24 titles, defeated world number three Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets 7-6, 7-6 to claim his first Olympic gold medal. The 37-year-old Djokovic’s victory was sweet revenge for his straight-sets Wimbledon loss to 21-year-old Alcaraz last month.

Even with Sinner available, Djokovic and Alcaraz once again appear to be the clear favorites. Djokovic is the defending champion of the tournament and has won four US Open titles in total. Alcaraz won his only US Open title the year before. A win in New York this year would give Alcaraz his third consecutive Grand Slam title for 2024. He also claimed his first French Open title in June, defeating world number four Alexander Zverev.