Sinner “disappointed and surprised” by the appeal of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which requests his suspension

Having just qualified for the quarter-finals in Beijing, Jannik Sinner spoke very little about his match of the day during his press conference. Indeed, the Italian returned to the WADA’s appeal which requests a suspension of one to two years from the world number one. The recent winner of the US Open says he is surprised and disappointed.

Jannik Sinner has not yet heard the last of this doping story. While this episode seemed to be behind him, a new twist took place this Saturday. Indeed, while the recent winner of the US Open was working to beat the Russian, Roman Safiullin, in three sets at the ATP 500 in Beijing, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a press release. Via this, WADA announces that it is appealing and demands a suspension of one to two years from the current world number one.

As a reminder, Jannik Sinner was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after testing positive twice for clostebol, an anabolic steroid, last March, eight days apart, on the 10 March during the Indian Wells tournament and March 18, after Indian Wells but just before the Miami tournament. Minimal amounts of clostebol were found in his urine.

“I’m surprised they appealed.”

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.”

An independent court concluded, at first instance, that the Italian had committed “no fault or negligence”. A decision “not correct with regard to the applicable rules” according to WADA. This development, caused by WADA, will therefore force the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to rule in this matter.

his victory, Jannik Sinner said he was surprised by this call even though he was already aware of it: “We can’t control everything, right? I’m obviously very disappointed and also surprised by this call, to be honest, because we had three hearings. The three hearings were very positive for me, you know, I didn’t expect it. I knew a few days ago that they were going to appeal, only today. it was going to become official, so… But yes, it’s a surprise We’re still talking about the same thing. Maybe they just want to make sure everything is in the right position. that they appealed.”

This story is therefore far from over. In the meantime, Jannik Sinner has separated from his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, believed to have unintentionally contaminated him, and from his physical trainer, Umberto Ferrara, who allegedly supplied the incriminated spray.

To replace them, Jannik Sinner called on two former members of Novak Djokovic’s staff. Marco Panichi, who spent seven years alongside the Serbian, is therefore the new physical trainer for the world number one. While Ulises Badio, in Djokovic’s team from 2017 to 2022, is his new physiotherapist.