Novak Djokovic hoped on Wednesday that the case of Jannik Sinner, world No. 1 tested positive twice for an anabolic, initially cleared before an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), would find a solution “as quickly as possible”. highlighting the “inconsistencies” of the system.
This must be “very hard” for Sinner, whose suspension WADA requested, declared the Serb, long time world No. 1 now fourth, during a press conference as part of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, which starts this Wednesday.
“The level of play that (Sinner) has shown since the start of this affair is impressive,” also underlined Djokovic, who is making his comeback more than a month after his elimination in the third round of the US Open. The latter, for the moment apparently impervious to anything he can endure, won the US Open at the beginning of September and played this Wednesday in the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing against his great Spanish rival Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner suffered two positive doping tests eight days apart in March 2024 during the North American tour. Trace amounts of clostebol (anabolic) were found in his urine.
the International Agency for Tennis Integrity (Itia) accepted his explanation at the end of August according to which he had suffered accidental contamination due to a spray used by a member of his team.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed this decision last Saturday, and requested that Sinner, winner of two Grand Slam tournaments this year, be suspended for two years.
“It seems obvious to me that our system is not working well,” recalled the Serbian, holder of 24 Grand Slam trophies. “There are too many inconsistencies, too many governance bodies when it comes to doping, and the Sinner case alone does not give a good image of our sport at all.”
After the announcement of the appeal filed by WADA, Alcaraz declared on Saturday that he felt “pain” for Sinner, whose fate in this doping case is now in the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Sinner said he was “disappointed and surprised” by WADA’s appeal, while being “convinced of being found innocent”.
