Two tennis stars have lent their support behind Jannik Sinner who will return to competitive tennis next month following a three-month suspension for an anti-doping offence.
The world No.1 accepted a brief ban from the sport following a case settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who originally pushed for the Italian to be banned for up to two years before reviewing the case. In 2024 Sinner twice tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol which he said was due to contamination. He said his former physio used a spray on his hand that contained the substance and then transferred it to him when conducting treatment without gloves.
A panel of three experts accepted Sinner’s explanation and cleared him of wrongdoing as part of the process conducted by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). However, WADA then appealed this verdict by arguing that he has a degree of fault as he is responsible for making sure those he hires are following the correct rules. The appeal was on course to be held at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) before the settlement occurred.
Weighing in on the issue, 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal told The Telegraph that the case hasn’t put the sport in a good light but he believes Sinner would never deliberately take a banned substance.
“In the end, if I’m not mistaken, he came out of the ruling as innocent,” Nadal commented.
“In this case, it’s not been positive for our sport, tennis. But these things happen sometimes, accidents happen, and that’s how I see this because I believe in Jannik. I’m convinced from what I know of Jannik that he never tried to cheat or get an advantage over the rest. I am sure that Jannik is an innocent and moral person.
“From the other side of things, I don’t want to put in doubt the ruling. There are protocols that we’ve all followed for our careers. In this case, the authorities have all of the information – all of it, not what we have, which can be limited and many times subjective. I believe in the ruling. Jannik has accepted these three months of sanction and so: case closed.”
Both the ITIA and WADA have outlined in their findings that they have no suspicion that Sinner deliberately took a banned drug to enhance his performance. The tennis star has also repeatedly stated his innocence and expressed frustration with his ban.
However, this hasn’t prevented Sinner from receiving a fair share of criticism, especially concerning the speed of his case. Some have accused him of receiving preferential treatment due to his status in the sport and ability to pay for top lawyers. This allegation has been rejected by the ITIA who say there has not been any favoritism in this case.
Sinner was allowed to resume ‘official training activity’ from April 13th in line with his ban. In recent days, one of his hitting partners in Monte Carlo has been world No.6 Jack Draper who recently stated his peer doesn’t deserve to receive the amount of hate he gets.
“In terms of how I feel about him as a person I think it is important for people to know and recognise the guy is kind-hearted and a good human being,’ Draper said during a joint interview with BBC Sport and the Guardian.
“He doesn’t deserve any of the hate he gets.”
As for Sinner’s character, Draper has high praise for him.
“When people ask about Jannik I tell the truth – I think he is a really genuine, nice person and on top of that he is an unbelievable player,” he said.
“In this situation I am sure he would have had absolutely zero idea of anything.
“That’s the way life goes – sometimes there are mistakes.”
Sinner is allowed to resume playing on the Tour from May 5th and is set to start his comeback at the Italian Masters in Rome.
