Tim Henman says the timing of Jannik Sinner’s three-month doping ban ‘appears a bit bit too handy’ – as stars reacts to World No 1’s settlement
Jannik Sinner‘s flashing blade and dancing feet have been too fast for anyone else in the world over the last six months, and now he has neatly sidestepped the courts of Lausanne, too.
The world No1’s doping case was due to come before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April, after World Anti Doping appealed the Tennis Integrity Agency’s decision to clear him of any blame for two failed tests last March.
But on Saturday morning it was announced that Sinner had agreed with WADA to accept a three-month suspension, essentially an out of court settlement.
Had such a ban been issued by in April, it would have put the Italian out of the French Open and Wimbledon. By beginning the ban now, Sinner will miss neither. He will return just in time for his home event, the Italian Open.
He has timed it all as sweetly as one of his whiplash forehands and it sticks in the craw that Sinner has been able to control his own destiny so precisely. As Tim Henman said in response to the news: ‘It just seems a little too convenient. The timing couldn’t have been any better for Sinner. It leaves a pretty sour taste for the sport.’
That was one of the more tame salvos from the tennis world. Nick Kyrgios, Sinner’s chief antagonist during the whole saga, said on X: ‘Obviously Sinner’s team have done everything in their power to take a three month ban. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.
Jannik Sinner will not be able to play tennis until May 4 after being hit with a three-month ban
That ban will end before the 2025 edition of the French Open begins at Roland Garros in Paris
Stan Wawrinka posted: ‘I don’t believe in a clean sport any more.’
For those who ask, as former world No1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov did, why would Sinner accept a ban if he insists he is innocent? Neither the ITIA, nor WADA are arguing that Sinner intentionally, or knowingly, ingested clostebol.
Both bodies accept his explanation that the steroid entered his system during a massage, via a spray applied to his former physio’s finger.
A WADA statement said: ‘WADA accepts that Mr Sinner did not intend to cheat and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage.
‘However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence.’
So why have WADA accepted this settlement, when they said only this month they were seeking one to two years? To them, the length of the ban is less important than reinforcing the mantra that an athlete is responsible for what goes into their body, especially when that substance was administered, however unknowingly, by a member of their own team.
Also, a ban of three months is in the ballpark of what most tennis insiders believed was most likely. CAS have shown a tendency to find a middle ground in most appeal cases: neither a full acquittal nor a heavy ban seemed likely.
‘This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year,’ Sinner said in a statement.
Ex-player Tim Henman said that the timing of Sinner’s ban ‘seems a little bit too convenient’
‘I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love.
‘On that basis I have accepted WADA’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a 3 month sanction.’
The 23-year-old has not got off scot free. His world No1 ranking is under threat. He will miss the blue chip masters events on the hard courts of Indian wells and Miami, for which he would have been a significant favourite.
But the true price he has paid will be counted in reputational damage. Like his recent counterpart as world No1, Iga Swiatek, he will always have a doping ban on his record. Neither the ITIA nor WADA believe he set out deliberately to cheat but a doping ban is a doping ban and the passing of time has a way of obscuring the small print.
This back room dealing will do nothing to quiet those who believe Sinner and Swiatek have received preferential treatment thanks to the numbers next to their names.
After watching Sinner decapitate Alexander Zverev to win the Australian Open, I wrote: ‘At this rate, the only ones who can stop Jannik Sinner are the arbitrators in Lausanne. On a tennis court, he is untouchable.’
It turns out I was wrong. In terms of the big business of competing in and winning Grand Slams, the metric by which players of his class are judged, it seems the courts cannot lay a glove on him either.
Sinner won the Australian Open in January – 10 months after first testing positive for clostebol
Which tournaments will Sinner miss?
Sinner will not be forced to miss any Grand Slam events due to his ban.
However, he will be unable to compete at four ATP 1000 tournaments, with Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open all falling during the next three months.
His return is likely to come on home soil at the Italian Open in Rome, which begins on May 7.
