Aussie Open champ Jannik Sinner gets 3-month ban in settlement of doping case

Howard Fendrich · The Associated Press

· Posted: Feb 15, 2025 6:53 AM EST | Last Updated: February 15

Top-ranked tennis subordinate Jannik Sinner accepted a three-month prohibition successful a colony with the World Anti-Doping Agency and said Saturday the statement ends a lawsuit that was "hanging implicit me" since his 2 affirmative doping tests astir a twelvemonth ago.

WADA, which was seeking to prohibition the three-time Grand Slam champion from the athletics for astatine slightest 1 year, had challenged a determination past twelvemonth by the International Tennis Integrity Agency not to suspend Sinner for what the ITIA judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid past March.

Sinner's mentation — that hint amounts of Clostebol successful his doping illustration was owed to a massage from a trainer who utilized the substance aft cutting his ain digit — had been accepted.

The timing means the 23-year-old Italian won't miss immoderate Grand Slam tournaments. The French Open, the season's adjacent major, starts May 25.

"This lawsuit had been hanging implicit maine present for astir a twelvemonth and the process inactive had a agelong clip to tally with a determination possibly lone astatine the extremity of the year," Sinner, who won the Australian Open successful January, said successful a statement. "I person ever accepted that I americium liable for my squad and recognize WADA's strict rules are an important extortion for the athletics I love. On that ground I person accepted WADA's connection to resoluteness these proceedings connected the ground of a three-month sanction."

The Montreal-based WADA had primitively appealed the ITIA's ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport successful Lausanne, Switzerland. It has formally withdrawn the appeal.

"WADA accepts the athlete's mentation for the origin of the usurpation arsenic outlined successful the archetypal lawsuit decision. WADA accepts that Mr. Sinner did not mean to cheat, and that his vulnerability to Clostebol did not supply immoderate performance-enhancing payment and took spot without his cognition arsenic the effect of negligence of members of his entourage," it said successful Saturday's announcement.

"However," the WADA connection continued, "under the codification and by virtuousness of CAS precedent, an jock bears work for the entourage's negligence. Based connected the unsocial acceptable of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to beryllium an due outcome. As antecedently stated, WADA did not question a disqualification of immoderate results, prevention that which was antecedently imposed by the tribunal of archetypal instance."

WADA added that the International Tennis Federation and ITIA, "both co-respondents to WADA's CAS appeal, neither of which appealed the first-instance decision, some accepted the lawsuit solution agreement."

On Friday, Sinner posted a video connected Instagram of himself grooming successful Doha astatine the Qatar Open, which starts adjacent week. He was besides scheduled to play successful an accumulation successful Las Vegas adjacent month.

The suspension is from Feb. 9 to May 4.

Sinner could instrumentality astatine his location tournament, the Italian Open successful Rome, which starts May 7.

Italian Tennis and Padel Federation president Angelo Binaghi noted that portion the lawsuit was "a shameful injustice," the prohibition volition people "the extremity of a nightmare" for Sinner.

Binaghi adds that the colony "demonstrates Jannik's innocence" and that "all of Italy" volition invited him backmost astatine the Italian Open.

The ITIA said it acknowledged the colony but successful its connection Saturday reiterated that "we were satisfied that the subordinate had established the root of the prohibited substance and that the breach was unintentional. Today's result supports this finding."

Sinner's London-based lawyer, Jamie Singer commented: "I americium delighted that Jannik tin yet enactment this harrowing acquisition down him. WADA has confirmed the facts determined by the Independent Tribunal. It is wide that Jannik had nary intent, nary knowledge, and gained nary competitory advantage. Regrettably, errors made by members of his squad led to this situation."

How Sinner's lawsuit was handled had raised questions astir treble standards. The affirmative tests weren't publically revealed until past August due to the fact that Sinner successfully appealed against being provisionally banned from playing. He past won the U.S. Open successful September. Novak Djokovic said helium agreed that determination is "a deficiency of consistency."

In the singles rankings, Sinner presently leads No. 2 Alexander Zverev by 3,695 points.

Sinner stands to suffer 1,600 points owed to the ban: 1,000 points from his Miami Open rubric past March; 400 points from reaching the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals past April; and 200 points from reaching the Madrid Open quarterfinals.

If Zverev wins respective titles portion Sinner is out, the German could instrumentality implicit the No. 1 ranking.