Jannik Sinner is set to retain his world No.1 ranking despite serving a three-month anti-doping suspension until early May as former Australian Open boss Paul McNamee says the timing of the ban leaves a “sour taste”.
The Italian superstar, who won his second Australian Open singles title last month, accepted the suspension in a deal with the World Anti-Doping Agency ahead of his scheduled Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing in April.
Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open trophy in January and is now serving a three-month ban for a doping breach.Credit: Getty Images
Sinner will not miss a grand slam. His ban runs from February 9 to May 4, and ends in time for him to return at his home Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, then play at the next major tournament at Roland-Garros three weeks later.
Past and present tennis stars, from Australia’s Nick Kyrgios to grand slam champions Stan Wawrinka and Yevgeny Kafelnikov and six-time major semi-finalist Tim Henman, criticised the decision at the weekend, as did the Novak Djokovic-led Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA).
“I’m not surprised, but it’s perhaps a little bit too good to be true. I think given what’s happened to everyone else who’s been in the same situation, it doesn’t pass the sniff test,” McNamee told this masthead.
“No one’s saying that he did anything negligent himself – I don’t believe – but unfortunately, you have to pay a price for the negligence of your team. Many have suffered greatly [in similar circumstances].
Former leading tennis administrator Paul McNamee questioned the timing of Jannik Sinner’s doping ban.
“It’s, in a way, good luck, or too good, if you can make a deal. But it doesn’t seem like others were in a position to make a deal with WADA – and make a deal that really doesn’t take him out of anything. It doesn’t take him out of a grand slam, and allows him to receive a hero’s welcome at home in Rome and move on to Roland-Garros.”
Former world No.4 Henman was equally sceptical about Sinner’s suspension being wedged between the year’s first two grand slams, saying it was “too convenient” while being clear he did not believe the Italian cheated.
“When you’re dealing with drugs in sport; it very much has to be black and white – it’s binary, it’s positive or negative, you’re banned or you’re not banned,” Henman told Sky Sports News.
“When you start reading words like ‘settlement’ or ‘agreement’; it feels like there’s been a negotiation, and I don’t think that will sit well with the player cohort and the fans of the sport.”
Wawrinka tweeted that he no longer believed “in a clean sport”, while Kyrgios – the most vocal critic of Sinner and his anti-doping case – said it was a “sad day for tennis” and “dodgy as”.
Tennis Australia declined to comment on Sinner’s suspension, instead directing this masthead to the International Tennis Integrity Unit’s (ITIA) statement.
WADA previously pushed for a ban of at least one year after Sinner tested positive twice within days last year to clostebol, which he said entered his system inadvertently because member of his team, who no longer works for him, was using it to treat a cut on his finger while continuing to massage him.
The ITIA last year found after a five-month investigation that the triple grand slam winner was at “no fault or negligence” for the positive tests, but stripped him of 400 ranking points and $US325,000 prizemoney from last year’s Indian Wells tournament.
“We acknowledge the announcement made by the World Anti-Doping Agency, concerning the agreement reached between WADA and Jannik Sinner to settle WADA’s appeal,” the ITIA said in a statement.
“The original process was run according to the World Anti-Doping Code and Tennis Anti-Doping Program.
“Following a thorough investigation by the ITIA (including advice from WADA-accredited laboratories), we were satisfied that the player had established the source of the prohibited substance and that the breach was unintentional. Today’s outcome supports this finding.”
The ATP welcomed the conclusion of the matter, and said Sinner’s case was an “important reminder of players’ responsibility to carefully manage the products and treatments they or their entourages use”.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic prepare for a match against each other last year.Credit: AP
The PTPA, founded by Djokovic and Canadian player Vasek Pospisil, said in a statement the anti-doping process was broken, and “merely cover for tailored deals, unfair treatment and inconsistent rulings”.
“It’s not just the different results for different players,” the statement continued.
“It’s the lack of transparency. The lack of process. The lack of consistency. The lack of credibility in the alphabet soup of agencies charged with regulating our sports and athletes. The lack of commitment from the ATP, WTA, grand slams, ITIA and WADA to reform and create a fair and transparent system going forward.
“This bias is unacceptable for all athletes and shows a deep disrespect for every sport and its fans. It’s time for change. And we will change it.”
Sinner boasts a 3695-point advantage over second-ranked German Alex Zverev in this week’s rankings, but will not be able to “defend” 2100 of the points he earned last year during this ban.
The ATP rankings are a revolving 12-month system where points earned the previous year drop off weekly.
Zverev is defending 950 points in the same period. In basic terms, he needs to significantly out-perform his achievements of 2024 with an extraordinary run of form to reduce the remaining gap to Sinner’s tally.
There are four Masters 1000 events during Sinner’s absence, each of which offers 1000 rankings points to the winner, on top of many other 500 and 250-level tournaments.
McNamee said whether Sinner retained his No.1 ranking was largely irrelevant compared to the perception that the Italian received preferential treatment, right down to him returning in Rome rather than even a week earlier in Madrid.
“It questions the process. Is bargaining allowed? Is that the new situation? You can cut a deal?” McNamee said.
“Why and how was he able to do that? It’s posing more questions, I think, than giving answers.
“I’m certainly not where Nick [Kyrgios] is at all, but it was pretty obvious to me that he was going to have a rest. I thought it would be in the middle of the year because the case was supposed to be heard in April, and then he would have missed the French and Wimbledon. That was what everyone was expecting.”
McNamee called for more watertight protocols and regulations so offenders who, like Sinner, are not directly negligent, receive the same, or similar, punishment every time.
“The Jannik Sinner one sets a precedent now that it’s got to be three months, if you weren’t directly involved, but it was your team,” he said. “Others received worse sanctions than that, so there needs to be a protocol created that is consistent.”
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