The No. 1 ranked-tennis player in the world, Italian superstar Jannik Sinner, has been cleared to suit up for this year’s U.S. Open. Tournament play kicks off this Thursday.

It was no guarantee that Sinner would be allowed to move forward at the year’s final major.

After he claimed his latest title in 2024, the ATP 1000 Cincinnati Open, on Monday, it was revealed that Sinner tested positive twice for the anabolic steroid Clostebol, which has been banned by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), according to Jill Martin of CNN. The world No. 1 initially tested positive during a March 10 collection at Indian Wells. He was tested again eight days later, and once again came up positive, at low levels, for the substance.

The ITIA revealed that Sinner had been given the green light to participate in further tennis activities, claiming that he had “no fault or negligence.”

In response to the news breaking, Sinner took to his official X account to release a press statement, claiming that he had tested positively due to “inadvertent contamination of Clostebol” as part of his physiotherapist’s treatment plan, noting that the “trace element” uncovered was “less than a billionth of a gram” of the banned substance.

“His fitness trainer purchased a product, easily available over the counter in any Italian pharmacy, which he gave to Jannik’s physiotherapist to care for a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger,” the statement read in part.

“Jannik knew nothing of this, and his physiotherapist did not know that he was using a product containing Clostebol,” the statement continued. “The physiotherapist treated Jannik without gloves and coupled with various skin lesions on Jannik’s body caused the inadvertent contamination.”

Sinner has had something of a snakebitten last few months. The 23-year-old had to withdraw from the 2024 Paris Olympics due to a lingering case of tonsillitis.

Read More: Olympics News: Tennis Superstar Withdraws From Paris Games

In his stead, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic, winner of the most-ever men’s singles titles with 24, beat world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6, to earn his first-ever Olympic gold medal. The 37-year-old Djokovic’s victory served as sweet revenge following his Wimbledon defeat last month to the 21-year-old Alcaraz in straight sets.

Even with Sinner available, Djokovic and Alcaraz look like clear favorites once again. Djokovic is the defending tournament champion, and has won four U.S. Open titles overall. Alcaraz won his lone U.S. Open the year before. A victory in New York this year would represent Alcaraz’s third consecutive Grand Slam title for 2024. He also claimed his first-ever French Open title in June, defeating world No. 4 Alexander Zverev.