Jannik Sinner, #1 in men’s tennis, was cleared after two positive doping tests

Jannik Sinner is currently the #1 men’s tennis player in the world. The 23-year-old Italian has long been on the radar of tennis elites, especially when Nike signed him to a reported blockbuster 10-year $158 million sponsorship. For several years, Sinner seemed heavily hyped with little to show for it, but over the past twelve months, he won his first major (Australian Open) and three Masters titles, plus a half-dozen smaller titles. He also made it to the semifinal of Roland Garros (lost to Carlos Alcaraz) and the quarterfinal of Wimbledon (lost to Daniil Medvedev) this year. Jannik literally just won his third Masters title on Monday in Cincinnati. And right after that, it was revealed that Jannik had two positive doping tests back in March, and the tour seemingly covered it up while they “investigated.”

Jannik Sinner, the men’s tennis world No 1, has received an anti-doping sanction after twice testing positive for a banned substance. An independent tribunal has ruled that Sinner bears “no fault or negligence” for both positive tests.

An in-competition test at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on March 10, 2024 detected an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid which is a non-specified substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list. A second test, conducted out of competition on March 18, also detected a metabolite of clostebol. The benchmark sanction should a player be found at fault for violations of this nature is four years of ineligibility.

As a non-specified substance, an AAF for clostebol carries a mandatory provisional suspension from tennis. Sinner appealed against that suspension on both occasions, and so was allowed to continue to play, and rise to the top of the tennis world, as the investigation into whether he intentionally took the banned substance unfolded. An independent tribunal appointed by Sport Resolutions, a private firm that often oversees doping cases, approved lifting both suspensions.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) investigation concluded with a hearing, also overseen by Sport Resolutions, on August 15. At that hearing an independent tribunal ruled that Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” for the two violations of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP). The Italian admitted both violations, and is able to continue to play as he has done since the tests were conducted.

In separate announcements Tuesday, ITIA and Sinner’s team said that the Italian had tested positive for low levels of the anabolic steroid, once used as part of the notorious East German state-sponsored doping regime in the 1960s and 1970s. Sinner’s team and the ITIA stated that he cooperated fully with the investigation.

[From The NY Times]

The reason why Sinner got a “no fault” adjudication is because the ITIA believed Sinner’s explanation and his team’s explanation, which is that Sinner’s Italian physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi was using an Italian over-the-counter healing spray on his own body, and the residue from the spray on Naldi’s body/hands got onto Sinner when Naldi was working on Sinner’s body. Sinner is putting the blame squarely on Naldi and Naldi is professing ignorance that the spray he bought in Italy (which he brought to California) contained a WADA-banned substance. Naldi has memory loss, because he claimed the exact same thing in 2018 with a different athlete.

Personally, I think that cross-contamination explanation is screwy, but it is what it is and Sinner has been cleared. What is astonishing to me and to the tennis world is that the men’s tour (the ATP) seemingly bent over backwards to shield Sinner from any repercussions, even a temporary suspension while an investigation was on-going. Throughout the year, Sinner has missed some big tournaments (even his “home tournament” in Rome) and claimed illness or injury. Now people are wondering what the hell has been going on behind the scenes. Did I mention that Italians have taken over the executive positions of the ATP? Did I mention that Jannik has gotten some side-eyes for his extremely lucrative sponsorships in recent years, as it’s been clear that a lot of people are investing a lot of money to ensure that he is seen as the next big thing (alongside Carlos Alcaraz)? Speaking of, a lot of players are not happy that this whole thing was seemingly covered up for months.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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20 Responses to “Jannik Sinner, #1 in men’s tennis, was cleared after two positive doping tests”

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  1. Misaj says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:13 am

    I’m Italian. We were shocked and a bit angry because Jannik decided to forego the Olympics for something minor (a throat infection), while other Italian olympians did go even though they’d just had covid, injuries, various OPs. His substitute (who went on to win bronze)played the first match in Paris after a sleepless night, travelling from a tournament in Eastern Europe.

    If the story about the physio’s “injured finger” is indeed BS, then the whole Olympics debacle would make a lot of sense: nowhere do they check for doping like at the Olympics.

    If true how shameful and disgraceful, for him and for the country.

    At the same time, Kyrgios is Jannik’s gf’s ex, and his vitriol should be taken with a pinch of salt. This said, I have zero faith in professional sport, like tennis and soccer and I would be sad but not surprised.

    • SarahCS says:
      August 21, 2024 at 7:22 am

      I’m not interested in hearing anything Kyrgios has to say on any topic!

    • OliviaOne says:
      August 21, 2024 at 7:25 am

      Kyrgios is a lot of things, but he would not care enough about an ex to dis another player. He is right though.

      A lot of people are commenting on tennis boards like reddit about how bad this is from ATP and how people have been in career limbo when there is *suspicion* of use (some had to wait 2 years) and he cruises through and was “suspended” for 2 days and they still FOUND the compound. So it doesn’t matter if it’s accidental or not (the motive is irrelevant): He should not have been allowed to play (and win) all these ATP titles. Shameful from the ATP.

    • AlpineWitch says:
      August 21, 2024 at 7:30 am

      I’m Italian too and his fast rise to the first places of the ATP list always seemed suspicious or at least weird to me, because we never really had a great tradition in tennis. Clearly there are exceptions but I just didn’t feel he could be one.

      This didn’t surprise me a little bit and the cover up is even more shameful IMO than him doping.

      • Oliviaone says:
        August 21, 2024 at 9:16 am

        I know tennis players play under their country’s flag every single time, but this does not reflect on the people of Italy. I am sorry though and can understand that the fans in Italy (and all) are upset about this.

    • ally says:
      August 21, 2024 at 1:10 pm

      Kygios DGAF that Sinner is dating his ex, it was so long ago. They also split on fine terms, no drama. People are suspicious of Sinner skipping the Olympics because the drug testing is the MOST strict. Its def…interesting timing.

  2. Herrgreter says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:16 am

    This makes me so angry. I hope this has consequences, at least for his image. And for his place in the tennis community.

  3. SarahCS says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:20 am

    I hoped you would cover this. I’ve only read some mainstream coverage about this announcement and it seemed a bit weird. The more you look the murkier it gets.

  4. TN Democrat says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:29 am

    A double standard exists when female players have consequences for positive drug tests and male players do not. Andre Agassi also skirted consequences after testing positive for crystal meth back in the day. If Jannik were female instead of male, he would have been suspended.

  5. ML says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:30 am

    Stupid question: Didn’t the Olympic’s at one point test athletes for doping outside of the OG proper? Or am I remembering this incorrectly? Is it possible that JS has been tested since his two positive tests in March is what I’m asking in a roundabout way. His excuse makes no sense at all.

  6. Feebee says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:44 am

    Yeah it was one thing when I read it was rife amongst elite Italian sports but it’s another having the same physio get caught out in the same manner using the same excuse. No professional would forget using that cream.

    As much as I like Sinner some of this must fall on him. But by far the most must fall on the ATP and those in charge of the process post-discovery. Like with umpires, all people ask for is consistency. Fairness when applying the rules. That doesn’t appear to be what’s happened and on top of that is the secrecy.

    The shine is off Sinner and it will be interesting to see out this plays out with the US Open main draw starting next week. I can only imagine how those press conferences are going to go.

  7. vs says:
    August 21, 2024 at 7:58 am

    The cover up is a worst part about all of this…. Had this been Serena back in the day, the entire tennis world would have been screaming out of their lungs.
    Even sharapova didn’t get that protection… so he tested positive and the entire ATP covered it up!!!! Yes he has been cleared but clearly Nike money and the ATP were ok with the lack of disclosure!

    • Noo says:
      August 21, 2024 at 8:52 am

      @vs that was my thought too that Nike was involved in the cover-up. So disappointing and yet it is what it is, it seems that our systems and people within the systems only prioritize money these days. I wonder how we will find our way to any sort of ethics in society and business?

      Growing up (a long long time ago!) I remember people saying “money makes the world go round” but not making too much of that as a kid. I hear that in my head all the time these days…

  8. Lady Rae says:
    August 21, 2024 at 8:12 am

    The excuse doesn’t make any sense. It was said that the physio used it on his finger and there must have got into Sinner because he has psoriasis that just seems strange that you have cuts that deep and open and that a steroid could linger on your finger for that long that it can then transfer into someone else’s body through a wound and then be detected twice. I mean how bad is his psoriasis and if it is so bad why wasn’t the physio wearing gloves. It’s especially damning if his physio was caught doing the same thing many years ago of a different sports team and suspect that the head of the ATP is also Italian. I’ve definitely seen some things online comparing it to this Simona Halep situation but again with her isn’t someone high up in the CSA Romanian. Wasn’t that one of the issues that’s come up recently with the gymnastics debacle? I’m not surprised of a tennis players aren’t happy about this it just smacks of such a large cover-up.

  9. Nanea says:
    August 21, 2024 at 8:34 am

    The ATP doesn’t have problems, the ATP *is* the problem here.

    They still don’t have any DV policies in place yet, despite this not being a new problem — but they also need to deal with doping offences, and fast.

    All these contamination, or cross-contamination, arguments are flimsy at best (e.g. toothpaste, muesli etc), but they most certainly don’t hold any water where scientific evidence comes into play.

    Just imagine skin to be actually as permeable as they say it is. One could never use any kind of e.g. oil-based topical ointment ever again for fear of the carrier substance leaking into the body via the different layers of skin. How many people still use petrol(atum)-based creams?

    The whole causal chain of arguments that they’re using here sounds… ridiculous, at best.

  10. smcollins says:
    August 21, 2024 at 8:42 am

    Well that’s disappointing to hear. My husband is a huge tennis fanatic (and has really gotten me into it over the years), even marking the kitchen calendar with a tennis ball when each major begins lol. He doesn’t really pay attention to what goes on off the court, is only about the matches, so I’m sure this will come as a surprise. I pay a tiny bit more attention but not much. I only recently learned of the allegations against Zverev, who I still like watching play but now that lingers in the back of my mind when I do. Now this will sit in my mind while watching Sinner. Again, so disappointing.

  11. trillion says:
    August 21, 2024 at 9:25 am

    Best. Last name. Ever.

  12. Kirsten says:
    August 21, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    This is even flimsier than a teenager saying, “It’s my friend’s weed.” OK sure.