Jannik Sinner managed to prove that the banned substance entered his body unintentionally.
World No. 1, Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, avoided disqualification for two failed doping tests.
This decision was made by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
In March, Sinner tested positive for clostebol twice: first during the Indian Wells tournament, where he reached the semi-finals, and then eight days later, out of competition. In both cases, low levels of the substance were detected in his system.
An investigation revealed that the banned substance entered Sinner's system through the fault of one of his team members. The member treated a cut on his own finger with a spray containing clostebol and then gave Jannik a massage. This led to the doping entering the tennis player's system.
It is noted that neither the physiotherapist nor Sinner knew about the presence of clostebol in the spray.
ITIA concluded that Sinner did not bear any responsibility for the substance entering his body. Consequently, he avoided the disqualification that threatened him.
At the same time, Yannick was stripped of all prize money for the Indian Wells tournament ($320,000), as well as the ranking points (400) that he earned there.
Despite this, the 23-year-old Italian will retain the title of world number one. His lead over the second-ranked player in the ATP rankings, Serbian Novak Djokovic, is now 2,300 points.
“I will now put this difficult and very unhappy period behind me. I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure compliance with the ITIA anti-doping program, and I have a team around me that carefully implements the requirements,” Sinner commented on the situation.
Sinner is the winner of the 2024 Australian Open, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2024 and Wimbledon in 2023, and a quarter-finalist at the 2022 US Open. He missed the 2024 Olympics due to illness.