Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner expressed he was “very disappointed and also surprised” after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed a decision that cleared him of wrongdoing following two positive drug tests.
WADA announced on Saturday that it is seeking a ban of one to two years for the U.S. Open champion but stated that it does not intend to backdate any potential ban, meaning Sinner could retain his second Grand Slam title if found guilty.
This announcement came while Sinner was playing against Roman Safiullin at the China Open in Beijing.
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed and also surprised by this appeal, to be honest, because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me,” the 23-year-old Sinner said after defeating Safiullin.
“You know, I was not expecting it. I knew a couple of days ago that they were going to appeal, and that today it was going to be official, so… it’s a surprise,” the Italian added. “We always talk about the same thing.
Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I’m just surprised that they appealed.”
Sinner tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March but was not banned according to a decision made by an independent tribunal announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency last month, which determined he was not at fault.
Sinner explained that the banned substance entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid for his own cut finger.
WADA stated it filed an appeal on Thursday to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules,” WADA said in a statement. “WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years.
WADA is not seeking a disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance.”
WADA suggested that the rules were not followed properly, even though prosecutor Nicolas Zbinden for tennis’ integrity body, who accepted Sinner’s story, is a lawyer known for handling important cases for the global watchdog.
This includes the successful appeal for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.
A decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) could come fairly quickly, possibly within a few months, if everyone involved agrees to work together. This is how it happened in another well-known doping case in tennis with Maria Sharapova.
However, it is likely that the case will not be resolved before Sinner starts defending his Australian Open title in January. He can continue to compete while the appeal is in process.
Sharapova tested positive at the Australian Open in January 2016 for a newly banned heart medication called meldonium. She received a two-year ban in June that year from the International Tennis Federation.
The Russian player appealed to CAS, had a hearing in New York in September before three judges, and four weeks later, her ban was reduced to 15 months.
The entire process for Sharapova with CAS took only four months, which is much shorter than most doping cases that usually last about a year.
The timeline can be delayed by the difficulties in selecting a judging panel, scheduling a hearing, and the exchange of documents and evidence from expert witnesses.
During the Indian Wells hard-court event in March, Sinner tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid that can be used for eye and skin treatments.
This is the same substance that led to San Diego Padres player Fernando Tatis Jr. being suspended by MLB in 2022. Sinner tested positive again eight days later in an out-of-competition sample.
He was provisionally suspended twice by the tennis integrity body due to these test results, but he successfully appealed both times to an independent tribunal judge and was allowed to continue playing on tour.
Sinner explained that his test results came from his fitness trainer buying an over-the-counter spray called Trofodermin in Italy.
This spray contained Clostebol and was given to Sinner’s physiotherapist to treat a cut on the physiotherapist’s finger. The physiotherapist then treated Sinner without wearing gloves.
The investigation showed that Sinner had a tiny amount of the steroid in his system. He demonstrated this during a news conference before the U.S. Open by using eight fingers to count the number of zeroes before the “1” in the amount: .000000001.
The ITIA accepted Sinner’s explanation after interviewing him and his team ten times, and an independent panel agreed during a hearing on August 15.
However, the tennis integrity body decided that Sinner had to give up $325,000 in prize money and 400 ranking points he earned at the Indian Wells tournament. After this, Sinner announced that he had fired his two trainers.
“We have a lot of confidence in (CAS), which should have the final word in the case,” said Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian tennis and padel federation. “I’m sure that the only effect of the WADA appeal will be positive. Because it will formalize his innocence.”
