World No.1 Jannik Sinner said Friday he was not “at ease” with the doping case to which he is the subject and which he thought was over, but the Italian said he was ready for his first match at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai. “It’s not a situation I feel comfortable in, that’s for sure, because I thought it was over… so it’s not easy“, Sinner said at a press conference before his debut in Shanghai against the Japanese Taro Daniel.
While he had been cleared by the International Agency for Tennis Integrity (Itia) after testing positive twice for clostebol, an anabolic steroid, Sinner was caught up in this affair. Last week, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that it had appealed and is demanding a suspension of one to two years for the Italian player. In the midst of controversy, the 23-year-old reached the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing, lost on Wednesday against the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
In this case, the Italian defended himself by explaining that he had suffered “contamination by a member of his staff, who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own hand to treat a small injury“, according to Itia which accepted his defense and officially cleared him at the end of August. “I’ve had three hearings, which have gone my way, which is a good thing, but now we’ll see what happens. But I am hopeful that the outcome will be very positive“, Sinner said Friday. Sinner said to himself “in full possession of his means” before heading to the Shanghai tournament, where he was eliminated in the round of 16 last year.
