Juan Martin Del Potro has admitted that tennis’ credibility has been lost as he spoke about Jannik Sinner’s doping case.
It was after the US Open last year where the news came out of a positive doping test from Jannik Sinner as the world number one faced no further punishment for the offence.
Although he was suspended on the tour briefly during the Mutua Madrid Open, Sinner faced no further punishment from ITIA.
However WADA thought differently and appealed the decision to Court Of Arbitration For Sport as they called for Sinner to be banned for a year.
The decision was due to take place in April but Sinner’s legal team and WADA agreed to a settlement with it being agreed that Sinner would be banned for three months.
It means that Sinner will not miss a Grand Slam and will be back for his home tournament in Rome in May.
The reaction from the tennis world has been filled with opinions as Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka have been the most vocal on the issue.
Now a former legend of the sport has had his say on the case as Juan Martin Del Potro was asked about the topic during a press conference in Rio De Janeiro.
The former US Open champion has said that tennis has no credibility from the series of events and admits the whole incident is ‘strange,’ “I don’t know so many details, I’m not on the circuit. But I can tell you that the whole situation seems strange to me,” Del Potro was quoted by tennis 365 as saying.
“He tested positive twice in Indian Wells; before the US Open, the case was made public and he received no sanction. I find that strange, that for many months there were people who knew and they didn’t communicate it. I don’t understand why they announced it before the US Open if the case was closed. I’m not saying whether he was innocent or not, whether it was the physio, the cream.
“But I think that everyone here lost a bit of credibility. The ATP, the anti-doping systems, Sinner’s image, the fans. I don’t think anyone came away with anything positive.”
It’s clear that there are a lot of strong opinions as tennis looks to recover from this incident with its reputation in tatters.
The Masters 1000 in Rome will take place on the 7th of May.
