Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner will miss three months after the World No 1 accepted an immediate ban from tennis having twice tested positive for a banned substance last year
Jannik Sinner has accepted an immediate three-month ban from tennis after the World No 1 reached a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) regarding his two positive drugs test last year.
The Italian, who won last month’s Australian Open, and also won two more Grand Slams last year, will be suspended from February 9 until May 4 but will return in time for the French Open, which begins in mid-May. He will also be able to participate in Wimbledon shortly after that.
The Italian tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol – a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass – during the tournament at Indian Wells last year.
WADA had appealed against the decision to originally clear Sinner for doping and has explained that his contamination was inadvertent after it was used by his physiotherapist.
They accept that the three-time Grand Slam champion “did not intend to cheat” and that the drug “did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit”. They also add that this happened “without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage”.
WADA went on to state: “However, under the code and by virtue of Cas precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”
Sinner lost the ranking points he gained at Indian Wells, where the positive tests took place, but won’t be stripped of any of his titles.
The decision not to originally sanction Sinner following the positive tests has been criticised on social media by a number of players including Australian Nick Kyrgios, Britain’s Liam Broady and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.
Sinner, after he was initially exonerated said: “I have a team around me that are meticulous in their own compliance. I know that I haven’t done anything wrong. I always respect these rules, and I always will respect these rules of anti-doping.”
Women’s star Iga Swiatek recently also accepted a one-month ban for doping. The Pole, who is a five-time Grand Slam winner, failed a doping test in August and served a one-month ban after it was accepted medication she was taking to combat jet lag was contaminated. That news was not communicated until November, when it emerged she had missed three tournaments in the autumn while serving a provisional ban.
