Best Suspension Ever? While Being Banned From Tennis For The Last Three Months Jannik Sinner Retained His World No. 1 Ranking And Started Dating Supermodel Lara Lieto

Last year when it was discovered that top men's tennis player Jannik Sinner had tested positive for Clostebol it was all set up for that moment to be the downfall of his career. Facing a possible year long suspension and losing all his favor with the public, it was initially tough to see how he'd come out of this with his head still above water. 

Sinner eventually accepted a three month suspension in hopes of putting this in the past so everyone could move on. He still declared his innocence and admitted he didn't deserve anything, but decided it was the best for all parties to just get this over with. 

Now typically when you're a world class athlete and get suspended for the use of banned substances it ruins you. Think back to Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez? Those guys saw their image crumble while they were sidelined and never recovered. For Jannik Sinner it's been almost the opposite. While we're not 100% positive how Jannik Sinner will play when he returns in Rome next month (he's gonna beat everyone), I'm not sure any premier athlete has had it better while they're suspended than this fella.

First of all, while Sinner was suspended both Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev had golden opportunities to rack up wins and titles to potentially jump Jannik and grab hold of that world no. 1 ranking. Instead the pressure of the moment got to both players and neither came close in reality.  

Alcaraz came out and admitted that he's no longer going to making his ranking a priority because it got to his head too much. 

So despite missing three whole months and multiple Masters 1000 tournaments, Sinner will retain his number 1 ranking with relative ease. 

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On top of that, Sinner used his free time to start dating Russian super model Lara Lieto. 

She seems like a decent time. While winning tennis matches is clearly Jannik's favorite thing to do, I'm sure spending time with Lara was a solid substitute. 

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Arnold Jerocki. Getty Images.

Andreas Rentz. Getty Images.

You guys really got Jannik with that three month suspension! He took a three month vacation, kept his top world ranking, and started dating a super model. Poor guy.