Jannik Sinner will be 'banned from the French Open and Wimbledon'

Jannik Sinner may be suspended for the French Open and Wimbledon next year, even if he is banned from tennis for a shorter period than has been proposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Sinner tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol in March but an independent tribunal accepted his explanation that the banned substance entered his body as a result of a massage from his physio, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on their finger.

Yet WADA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on the 23-year-old Italian.

“It is WADA’s view that the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ was not correct under the applicable rules,” said WADA 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.”

It has been confirmed that WADA hearing into their appeal will NOT take place before February next year, ensuring Sinner is allowed to defend his Australian Open title in Melbourne next month.

Yet there is an expectation that the CAS hearing will take place before the French Open in June, which could put Sinner’s participation in that event in huge doubt.

WADA’s call for a suspension of between one and two years for Sinner would be a hammer blow to his career, but there could be a scenario that would see him receive a shorter ban if he is found to be liable at the CAS hearing.

WADA’s stance in previous cases comparable to this has been that all athletes are liable for the substances found in their body, with the CAS hearing likely to examine the small levels of clostebol in Sinner’s system when he failed the test.

That suggests it would not have been performance-enhancing, yet this is a very different case to that of world No 2 Iga Swiatek, who also failed a drug test in August.

The details of her case appear to suggest the positive finding was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin, manufactured and sold in Poland, which Swiatek took for jet lag and sleep issues.

Sinner’s story is a little different as he claims the clostebol got into his system after it was used in massage cream containing the substance, with WADA’s stance that athletes need to take responsibility for all substances in their system likely to stand for this case.

However, Sinner will have been encouraged by comments from Oliver Niggli, director of WADA, as he hinted the players may be victims of improved technology after minuscule amounts of the banned substances were found in their systems.

“Today there is a problem of contamination,” Niggli told L’Equipe. “There are no more (doping cheats) than before, but laboratories are more efficient in detecting infinitesimal quantities of doping substances. We will have to open a working table to understand how to manage this situation.

“The quantities found are so small that it is possible to become contaminated by doing even trivial things.

“I understand the public, who thinks we are naive and that we believe everything. But the reality is different. There is a problem.

“If we wanted to simplify our lives, we could impose new thresholds and not find all these cases. But the real question is: Are we ready to accept microdosing? Where do we stop?

“With thresholds, we wouldn’t have seen all these cases. What we need to understand is whether we are ready to accept microdosing and where it is right to stop. A working table will be created precisely for this type of reflection.”

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If Sinner received a three-month ban in mid-2025, it could end his hopes of playing in the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, with his ranking certain to collapse in that scenario.

A ban of six months or more would almost certainly rule him out of the final three Grand Slams of 2025 and may end his season, but he will be hoping to avoid that fate.

“Of course, it’s in the head a little bit,” said Sinner of the WADA appeal after his Davis Cup win with Italy.

“I always say, you know, we had three hearings, three hearings which came out in a positive way. So hopefully also the next one, it’s out.

“But for me, the most important part is that all the people who are around me and know me as a human being trust me, no? That’s also the reason I kept playing the level I had.

“Of course, I had some ups and downs, and whoever know me I was emotionally a bit down and a bit also heartbroken, no, but sometimes life gives you difficulties and you just have to stand for it.

“This is also, you know, with I think from outside it’s always very, very difficult to say if someone has a problem or not, because we always try to compete in the best possible way we are, but I’m not concerned. I will work with them as I did the three previous times, and then we see what’s coming out, no? Whatever I can control, I can control. And then we see.

“Now, for sure, it’s a bit of time off, which is gonna be good for all of us. You know, it was a very long season.

“We were just joking around that not even in one month we restart again if you want to play tournaments straightaway. So you have to also enjoy a little bit of the time off, if you can, surround yourself with good people, and that’s it.”

Sinner may have believed this story was over when he was spared a suspension by tennis chiefs, but it is not set to dominate his agenda moving into 2025.

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