Jannik Sinner’s future is getting dark again. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on Saturday that it had filed an appeal on Thursday in the world number 1’s case. The Italian was cleared at the end of August by the International Agency for Tennis Integrity (Itia) after testing positive twice for clostebol, a banned substance, in March.
In its press release, the body “considers that the conclusion of absence of fault or negligence was not correct with regard to the applicable rules”. As a result, “WADA is requesting a suspension period of one to two years” for Sinner, without his results since his positive tests, including his victory at the US Open, being canceled.
A story of spray and a fired physiotherapist
To defend themselves, the Sinner clan blamed an over-the-counter spray used by Giacomo Naldi, the Italian’s now former physiotherapist, to treat a small wound on a finger.
It was by massaging the player that Naldi, fired after the revelation of the affair while he had been working with Sinner for eighteen months, allegedly caused the two positive doping tests: on March 10 during the Masters 1000 at Indian Wells and March 18 out of competition but just before the Miami tournament. The explanation had convinced Itia. But WADA seems more skeptical.
