Squiz Shortcuts - Jannik Sinner's doping ban

Your Shortcut to… Jannik Sinner’s doping ban

Jannik Sinner is one of the most talented players on the tennis circuit, but the world #1 has been suspended from playing professionally for 3 months following a doping scandal. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll take you through:

• the background to the case

• why he copped a relatively short ban

• and why it’s upset so many players and officials in tennis.

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Squiz the Shortcut

Tell me about Jannik Sinner
He’s a 23yo Italian tennis player who’s currently ranked #1 in the world. He’s part of the new guard, taking over from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic…

Got it… Has he won anything recently?
He sure has - he took out the Australian Open in late January, and he only dropped 2 sets in the whole tournament. The runner up, world #2 Alexander Zverev, and our own world #6, Alex ‘The Demon’ de Minaur, both said they needed to go back to the practice court and rethink the way they played Sinner, because they “had no answers” for how to beat him.

So he’s in top form
Yep, but there’s been some controversy following him around after he failed 2 doping tests in March last year.

Back it up… what happened?
Sinner tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid called clostebol. It’s a synthetic testosterone that can be used as a performance enhancer, but Sinner said it was accidentally transferred to him via contamination by his physiotherapist. 

How was it transferred?
He said the physio sprayed the medicine on a cut finger and then gave him a massage. The amount detected in his bloodstream was less than a billionth of a gram.

Was his explanation accepted?
Initially… The International Tennis Integrity Agency dismissed the case against him, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (known as WADA) appealed the decision.

Why did they appeal it?
Their policy on doping is that every athlete is responsible for what goes into their own body - and that extends to members of their staff, including coaches and physios.

Do they think he tried to cheat?
No, they don’t - it’s important to note here that reports say the tennis community mostly doesn’t believe Sinner tried to cheat… WADA also said they believed his account that the contamination happened by accident. But the minimum penalty for breaching the rules is a one-year ban, and that’s what they were pushing for.

What was the result?
On the weekend, it was announced that Sinner had agreed to accept a much shorter ban of 3 months, which has angered some players and officials.

What are they saying?
That the penalty isn’t harsh enough and it won’t serve as a deterrent to younger players coming up through the ranks who may think they’ll get off lightly if they rort the system. Some players are also saying the timing of the ban for Sinner is “very convenient”. 

What are they getting at?
They mean it’ll allow him to return to competition in time for the next major tournament in the tennis calendar, the French Open, which starts on the 25th of May… 

Why is the French Open important?
It’s one of the majors, along with the Aussie Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. If Sinner has a chance to win it, he’ll be in with a shot at winning what’s known as a Grand Slam, which is when a player wins all 4 majors in the same year. It’s a very elite club - only 2 men’s singles players have managed it so far - American Don Budge in 1938 and our own tennis legend Rod Laver, in 1962 and 1969.

How many majors has Sinner won?
He’s won 3 so far in his career - they’re last year’s US and Aussie Opens, and, as we mentioned, he won another Aussie Open title this year… And with the way he’s been playing, commentators say a Grand Slam could be on the cards… 

So, he’s happy with the deal?
Very… In a statement, Sinner said the case had “been hanging over” him for a year, and he was glad it was over. He said he accepted responsibility for his team, and so took the deal offered to him rather than fight the case further and risk getting a year’s suspension. 

Which players aren’t so thrilled about it?
We’re not exactly sure what his beef is with Sinner, but Aussie Nick Kyrgios has been pretty vocal about this case for months. Back in August, he said Sinner should be suspended for 2 years, and he called WADA’s decision on the case “putrid” and said it was “a sad day for tennis”. And he’s not the only one…

Who else is upset?
Other players to make public statements are 3-time major winner Stan Wawrinka, who said he “no longer believes in a clean sport”, and former world number one Andy Roddick, who said the penalty was the equivalent of a student “getting suspended during Spring Break”. The Professional Tennis Players Association called the decision “unfair” and accused the tennis and anti-doping bodies of bias, given that other players had received harsher penalties in the past.

Now that you mention it, how do other cases compare to Sinner’s?
A couple that have made headlines are the cases of former world #1 Simona Halep from Romania, and Britain’s Tara Moore. They copped bans of 4 and 2 years respectively after claiming they accidentally ingested performance enhancers - Halep in vitamin supplements and Moore in contaminated meat. Halep’s ban was reduced on appeal to 9 months, while Moore served her sentence and is still waiting on an appeal date to clear her record. 

Why was Sinner able to cut a deal for a shorter ban?
One thing that might’ve played a part in WADA’s decision is that it’s heading towards a more flexible approach for cases involving accidental doping by contamination - it’s a policy that’s coming in officially from 2027. And reports about Sinner’s case say that’s a point his lawyers would’ve been pushing hard on to negotiate a shorter ban. Poland’s Iga Świątek was also able to negotiate a similarly short one-month ban which she served out last year over a banned heart medication.

When does Sinner’s ban start?
It started on 9 February and it’ll go through to 4 May, in time for him to play the Rome Masters in the lead-up to the French Open on 25 May. 

Is 3 months out of competition likely to affect his game?
If you listen to people who know a lot more about tennis than us, they reckon he’ll return rested with a clear head, and that stands to make him an even more formidable opponent. But, as they say in tennis, the ball’s in his court…

Onto our Recommendations

Listening: This ABC Sport podcast episode with sports lawyer Paul Horvath gets into the nitty gritty of the case if you’re looking to go a little deeper.

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