World number one Jannik Sinner has been banned from tennis for three months due to two positive drug tests last year. The Italian, who won the Australian Open in February, reached a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over the tests.
Sinner tested positive for clostebol, a banned substance that can be used to build muscle mass, in March and again after the US Open in August. He was previously cleared of wrongdoing by an independent panel but WADA launched an appeal against the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) decision not to suspend him.
WADA accepted Sinner did not intend to cheat and the substance provided no performance-enhancing benefit. However, the agency stated that his team’s negligence led to the contamination. As a result, Sinner will serve the three-month ban without facing a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing.
Sinner has maintained he had done nothing wrong but accepted responsibility for his team’s actions. His ban means he will miss several high-profile tournaments and lose ranking points. If he loses his top ranking, it will rely on his rivals winning multiple tournaments.
Other players have expressed concerns about the ban, with Tim Henman saying it felt “too convenient” and Nick Kyrgios calling it a “sad day for tennis”.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/cj48rn79kego