World tennis top seed Sinner banned for 3 months
World number one, Jannik Sinner, will serve a three-month ban from tennis after reaching an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), following two positive drug tests in 2024.
The Italian has accepted a period of ineligibility that suspends him from playing from February 9 until May 4, meaning he can return ahead of the next Grand Slam, with the French Open starting on May 25.
The latest twist to the contentious case was almost immediately criticised on social media by 2022 Wimbledon finalist, Nick Kyrgios, who said the perceived leniency of the agreement showed that “fairness in tennis does not exist”
Sinner, who last month retained his Australian Open title to claim his third Grand Slam triumph, tested positive in March 2024 for the anabolic steroid clostebol, before being cleared in August by an independent tribunal who determined he was not to blame.
In a case presented by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the tribunal accepted Sinner’s explanation that the banned substance entered his body as a result of a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on their finger.
Sinner subsequently fired physio Giacomo Naldi and his trainer Umberto Ferrara, who Sinner said had supplied Naldi with the over-the-counter spray.
But WADA, who previously said it was seeking a ban of between one and two years for Sinner, appealed against that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in September and a subsequent hearing had been set for April 16 and 17.
In a statement released on Saturday, WADA explained that it continues to believe Sinner did not intend to cheat but that he was responsible for his entourage’s negligence.
The statement said: “WADA accepts the athlete’s explanation for the cause of the violation as outlined in the first instance decision.
Sinner will miss four ATP Masters 1000 events – Indian Wells and Miami in March, along with Monte-Carlo and Madrid in April. He will be eligible to return at his home event, the Masters 1000 in Rome on May 7. —Skysports. com
