Jannik Sinner drug case: “This is a disaster for tennis”

Although the number one has not been banned despite two positive doping results, our columnist Alexander Waske still believes that is the case Jannik Siner It’s a disaster for tennis.

EFirst: I do not have access to internal files related to the Jannik Sinner case. I am aware of published information and I am a defender because I used to be a player myself and because I look after many players who are tested regularly. But what I was able to say just a few hours after the case was made public: It is a disaster for tennis. Because we are talking about number one. A national hero. A player with very high popularity ratings. Sinner is so important for tennis because he and Carlos Alcaraz the new stars. Roger Federer already retired, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic will follow. Sinner and Alcaraz close the gap.

Loss of trust and lack of transparency

The truth: Sinner tested positive for the banned Clostebol twice in March and was acquitted five months later. It doesn’t seem to me how the drug got into Sinner’s body. His physiotherapist had a wound on his little finger, he used a spark with the forbidden substance Clostebol, he damaged his protégé and in this way the substance entered the sinner’s body. But: I cannot say that this is the case. In any case, Sinner’s lawyers were successful with this argument. A sinner was banned as a result of raising the two positive tests. He was not restrained.

For me, the important thing about the story is not whether it happened that way. You won’t find out. It’s not that Jannik Sinner, as his trainer Darren Cahill says, is someone who would never do anything. The decisive factor is the loss of trust and lack of transparency. It always repeats itself: Would a lower-ranked player also be freed? Would the ban have been lifted if Sinner didn’t have the best lawyers?

Jannik Sinner doping case: The trust is always there

As far as I can tell, everything was formally correct in this case. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), a body that created the ATP, WTA and the Grand Slams, had tested Sinner anonymously. The blood sample is given a number. None of the staff handling the test know his name. The positive result is then communicated to the athlete. At that point the burden of proof is on the athlete, ie sinner. He must prove that he is not responsible for the drug entering his body. At this point, too, the name remains anonymous – until a decision is made. The ITIA then publishes the case.

Is everything good with that? No. Because the trust is always there. Because they say behind closed doors: The ATP protects its top players and the rules don’t apply to everyone. Because one thing must never happen: that the sport falls into disrepute like the Tour de France did years ago. In the recent history of the ATP there has never been a case like the WTA. On the women’s tour was with Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep Stars banned.

If WADA does not challenge the offender’s ruling, the case will be formally closed. I’m curious to see how Sinner himself deals with it. Someone who was considered a clean man par excellence, who is an asset as big as tennis, but who is now associated with something negative for the first time. Defects will remain. Or as the Swabian says: It tastes good.