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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recently lodged an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to probe into Italian star player, Jannik Sinner’s doping case . It is to be noted that the World No. 1 ranked tennis player escaped a ban despite testing positive for a banned substance twice.
The top-ranked Italian player tested positive for an anabolic steroid named Clostebol in March 2024, however the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in August confirmed Sinner not guilty of any wrongdoing. Seeing this, the WADA had now lodged an appeal with the CAS, to probe into the matter. “It is WADA’s view that the finding of “no fault negligence” was not correct under the applicable rules,” the WADA’s statement read. “WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years. WADA is not seeking disqualification of any results, save that which has already been imposed by the tribunal of first instance,” it further read.
Jannik Sinner reacts after WADA's appeal to CAS
The 23-year-old Sinner, who is currently playing the China Open opened up after WADA’s appeal on Thursday, September 26. Sinner said he was “disappointed and surprised” to know of WADA’s decision, who are also seeking two years ban for the top ranked player.
Speaking on the sidelines of the China Open, Sinner said, “We cannot control everything. Obviously, I’m very disappointed and also surprised. We had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me. Maybe they just want to make sure that everything is in the right position. Yeah, I’m just surprised that they appealed.”
Sinner recently defeated Roman Safiullin 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the China Open in Beijing to progress further. The 23-year-old will next play Jiri Lehecka on Monday, September 30 in the quarterfinals and might see third-seeded Daniil Medvedev later in the competition, who will face Italy’s Flavio Cabolli.
