Jannik Sinner is currently the world No 1. Given that fact, you'd expect him to be the favourite to win this year's Wimbledon when the prestigious tournament kicks off next week.
However, that isn't the case. Instead, it's Carlos Alcaraz who is the man to beat. And, to make matters worse, many players will be eager to dump Sinner out given the controversy that has surrounded him over the past 12 months or so.
Sinner, last March, failed a doping test during the Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Then, just over a week later, it happened again.
The Italian, who has three majors to his name, always protested his innocence - insisting the positive tests had been returned as a result of a mix-up involving his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi.
Jannik Sinner is currently the world No 1. Given that fact, you'd expect him to be the favourite to win this year's Wimbledon when the prestigious tournament kicks off next week
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Sinner claimed that Naldi had inadvertently contaminated him. Initially, last August, the world No 1 was cleared.
Then there was a new twist at the start of the year. The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) announced that Sinner had agreed to accept an immediate three-month ban after the decision to clear him had been taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
That ban kicked in after the Australian Open and expired by the time the French Open kicked off. Wada said in a statement at the time: “Wada accepts that Mr Sinner did not intend to cheat and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage.
“However, under the Code and by virtue of Cas precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence.”
Unsurprisingly, however, many tennis players were left up in arms.
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After all, other athletes have received longer bans for similar offences. Sinner, in their eyes, got off lightly.
Nick Kyrgios was particularly vocal. The Australian vented his fury on social media, saying: “Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a three-month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.”
Liam Broady added: “Didn’t realise you could reach a settlement regarding a doping ban … Interesting. Back in time for the French Open I guess?”
And Tim Henman, the former British No 1, hit out by saying: “First and foremost I don’t think in any way he has been trying to cheat at any stage, I don’t believe that.
“However, when I read this statement this morning it just seems a little bit too convenient. When you’re dealing with drugs in sport it very much has to be black and white, it’s binary, it’s positive or negative, you’re banned or you’re not banned.
Jannik Sinner has a target on his back after last year's doping scandal
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“When you start reading words like settlement or agreement, it feels like there’s been a negotiation and I don’t think that will sit well with the player cohort and the fans of the sport.”
Months on, however, and Sinner has a target on his back going into Wimbledon.
It would not be understating things to say that he's up there with the most controversial tennis players on the tour. While his talent with a racket is unquestionable, the whole doping saga has made him enemy No 1.
That's his first big problem. The second, of course, is that Wimbledon looks like it will be his Everest when it comes to winning the most prestigious prize of them all.
Sinner was cruising in last month's French Open final, only for Alcaraz to mount a stirring, sensational comeback on the orange clay courts of Roland-Garros.
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There is, when they play, rarely anything to choose between them.
But Alcaraz, and his exploits at Wimbledon over the past two years, has shown that he's very much the man to beat - despite sitting behind Sinner in the world rankings.
Wimbledon 2023 was significant for the Spaniard. Facing Novak Djokovic, a Djokovic battling to emulate Roger Federer by winning eight crowns at the All England Club, appeared daunting.
Yet Alcaraz showed his monstrous mentality by consigning Djokovic to defeat, upsetting all the odds in the process.
Jannik Sinner faces a fight to reel in Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon this year
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Last year, Alcaraz was dominant as he cruised past Djokovic to win Wimbledon for the second year in a row.
Those triumphs, and his recent victory at Roland-Garros, means it's simply impossible to look past the 22-year-old when it comes to this year's big event.
Sinner has got the talent to win Wimbledon and the mentality, too.
From the outside, however, it currently looks as though this year might be just 12 months too early at least.
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