But no ban for tennis star
Positive doping tests for world number one Jannik Sinner
First the title in Cincinnati, then the shocking news: tennis star Jannik Sinner gave two positive doping tests in March. The world number one from Italy was briefly banned, but has now been acquitted. The reason: a contaminated coach massaged him.
Tennis star Jannik Sinner tested positive for doping twice in March. This was reported by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). In its statement, the authority for the integrity of professional tennis also made it clear that the current world number one was not to blame and was acquitted after an independent investigation. Only the world ranking points and prize money earned during this period will be deducted from the 23-year-old Italian.
“It is encouraging for us that Jannik Sinner could not be accused of any fault or negligence,” the players' association ATP said in a reaction. They appreciated the “independent assessment of the facts within the framework of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP)”, which had enabled the Italian “to continue to compete”.
Sinner provided an in-competition sample on March 10, 2024 at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells (USA) in which a clostebol metabolite was detected in small amounts. Clostebol is an anabolic steroid that is banned at all times under section S1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. Another sample taken eight days later outside of the competition in which he had reached the semifinals also returned a positive result for the same metabolite – also in small amounts.
Sinner: “Difficult and very unhappy time”
As the ITIA reports in the conclusion of its investigation, Sinner had stated that the substance had entered his body through a member of the care team. The caregiver had applied a spray containing clostebol, which is available over the counter in Italy, to his own skin to treat a small wound on his hand and had also massaged Sinner daily without gloves at the time, which is said to have led to unwitting contamination.
As is standard practice under standardized regulations, Sinner was suspended twice for short periods after the positive tests, but was subsequently allowed to continue playing because he successfully appealed and scientific experts concluded that the player's explanation was credible. A thorough investigation by the ITIA followed, which included several in-depth interviews with Sinner and his support team, who cooperated in the process. Following this investigation and in line with the independent scientific opinion, the ITIA accepted the player's explanation and found that the violation was not intentional. Both the short-term suspensions and the positive samples have only now been made known. WADA and the Italian Anti-Doping Agency (NADO Italia) can appeal the decision.
“I will now put this difficult and very unfortunate period behind me,” Sinner said in a written statement on social media. “I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that I remain compliant with the ITIA anti-doping program and I have a team around me that follows its own regulations to the letter.”
Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev in the semifinals in Cincinnati on Monday and then won the tournament, his fifth title of the year. He is considered one of the top favorites for the Grand Slam title at the US Open, which begins next Monday.
